


Digitalis

by just_a_noona



Series: Carrier [2]
Category: SHINee, Winner (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other, Painting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2018-08-11 03:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7875187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_a_noona/pseuds/just_a_noona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sim Seungwook is a lot of things. An artist, a student, a fierce protector of her best friend. There are also a lot of things she's not: friendly, monogamous, ready to take on anything she's doesn't specifically have to. Her and her best friend have finally started building some stability in Seoul, but a city that large offers just as much risk as security.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The New Kid

“Why do you always drag me along?”

I smiled down at the pink haired boy that was currently helping to boost me over the brick wall.

“Because,” I straddled the wall and held my hand down for my backpack, “you’re the perfect cover. Now come on.”

I leaned down and offered him my hand. He looked at it distastefully. He always hesitated. After some wriggling of my fingers he finally grasped it tightly. I tensed my thighs, holding myself in place as I helped him up.

“How am I,” he straddled the wall himself and gave me an all too familiar disapproving look, “the perfect cover?”

I gave him a cheesy grin before hopping down to the other side.

“Because you’re too cute to be doing anything actually bad. Now get down here.”

He rolled his eyes and huffed and hawed as if he might not come down, but jumped down to land beside me.

“I only come because I know you’d get caught without me on guard,” he didn’t look at me. Hands deep in his pockets, he was posing like some kind of tough guy, second man in a drama love-triangle. I shoved his shoulder.

“Get over yourself Jinwoo,” I hefted my backpack and started walking. “If I needed a new lookout, I’m sure I could find one.”

He caught up to me quickly.

“Where would you find one?”

“Anywhere. What about that kid that was in our calculus class? The one that dresses like he’s some kind of chaebol heir.”

“Aish, that jerk?” Jinwoo linked his arm through mine, smiling and making a peace sign up at me.

“He’s not cute enough to help you get out of trouble.”

I shook him off.

“So I need a cute one. What about that blonde kid from art history?”

“That kid’s a punk. If he helped you, he’d be expecting some kind of return on his investment.”

“I could do that. He’s not exactly bad looking.”

Jinwoo laughed, shaking his head.

“Admit it, you and I are stuck with each other.”

“Yeah, probably. There it is, take lookout Pinky.”

“Whatever you say Brain.”

* * *

Perhaps the most satisfying part of doing what I do is seeing the reactions it gets. Since I’m anonymous in my work, I get unfiltered feedback. Most people assume I’m male. A lot of people assume that I’m in my mid to late thirties. A few people think that I’m actually a team of people.

Well, that last one is half right. I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without Jinwoo. We are a team. Just not the way people think we are.

I was scrolling through my tag while waiting for my Physics professor to show up. Glancing around, I saw that Jinwoo was late. Chaebol Prince was ignoring Out-of-date Highlights, who was desperately trying to find some topic that would interest him. Marshmallow was slowly filling a page in his notebook with interconnected swirls. All in all, a normal five minutes before show time.

My attention was back on monitoring my Instagram tag when books plopped onto the desk next to mine. Without looking up, I started scolding.

“You know Pinky, I’m the one that does the hard work. If I can manage to get here on time after a late night, I’d expect the kid that just sits on watch duty to be able to as well. Have you seen the comments yet?”

“What comments?”

This is not my Pinky’s voice. These are not my Pinky’s jeans. That is definitely not my Pinky’s leather jacket.

I turned my head to fully observe the stranger sitting next to me. Black hair, styled a little messily. Well groomed eyebrows. Eyes that weren’t exactly big, more just very open. T-shirt under leather paired with jeans torn just so. Bracelets made of chain and tacky looking beads. New kid.

“Sorry. Thought you were someone else.”

“Ah,” he nodded. He gave me a smile that seemed like he didn’t believe what I had just said for some reason. Resting his elbow on the desk, and his head in his hand, he looked me over once before speaking again.

“What comments?”

There was an air of cockiness surrounding this kid that was nauseating. I just shook my head and closed instagram.

I opened up my notepad app and scrolled through the list of locations in it. New Kid leaned back and peered over my shoulder.

“You’re a fan of Yeojang?”

I couldn’t help but laugh.  _Yeojang_. Just one of the shortened versions of my signature that was used online. It was surprisingly apropos, considering how many people assumed I was male.

“Hmm?”

“Those places. Yeojang has painted all of them. Except…” New Kid leaned over and scrolled down the list.

“He hasn’t painted these places.”

I pretty obviously tilted my phone screen away from New Kid, not looking up as I scrolled back up.

“Mmm.”

“Are you trying to predict the next painting?”

“Something like that.”

“Well I don’t think it will be this one,” he pointed to the third one down from last night’s location.

“Hmm?”

I could picture the spot. Huge blank cement wall. Flat surface, porous enough to take the paint well, but I wouldn’t have to do multiple layers. It even had a base layer of white paint on it. It was perfect.

“They put up cameras at the pawnshop across from the entry.”

“Oh.”

I grinned internally. Watch me give a shit about cameras by the entrance New Kid.

* * *

It was two minutes until the class officially started when Jinwoo rushed through the door. His head was down as he jogged up the stairs and dropped his bag next to his desk. He almost sat on New Kid before noticing he was there. He gave me a confused look. I shrugged, jerking my head towards the seat next to Marshmallow. Jinwoo furrowed his brow, but took the seat as the professor walked in.

* * *

There was much grumbling and groaning when the professor announced that the majority of our grade would be based on a group project. Jinwoo and I rolled our eyes at each other when our tables got paired together. At least we could work with each other. Marshmallow seemed intelligent, if not exactly diligent. New Kid was an unknown force though. Jinwoo started us off with a topic suggestion.

“Luminiferous Aether?”

“Could do,” I nodded, “orgone would be a little too Fortean probably. What about Electrogravitics?”

“Why not something a little more… proven?”

Jinwoo gave Marshmallow a pitying smile. I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to show him exactly how much I was not open for taking boring suggestions. Marshmallow deflated slightly.

“Or not. Whatever you want.”

“I vote for Electrogravitics,” New Kid proclaimed, raising his hand, “whatever that is.”

Jinwoo shrugged. I packed up my notebooks and gave the first step.

“Good. Your homework is to read up on it so you at least have an idea what we’re talking about next time.”

I left the class, knowing the Jinwoo would make apologies for my rudeness and catch up.

* * *

My notebook was over my face as I tried to nap on the quad. I heard a body hit the grass next to me.

“Pinkyyyy… we need to advance on the list a little bit. My honour has been besmirched.”

“You have honour?”

Lifting the notebook, I looked up at New Kid.

“You have to stop doing that. What do you want?”

He smiled at me broadly.

“You know, you don’t look like you’d talk like that.”

I lowered the notebook onto my face again, going silent. I didn’t want to encourage this kid’s social floundering.

“Who’s Pinky?”

I stayed quiet.

“What’s your name?”

Silence.

“My name is-”

I sat up, smacking his arm with my notebook.

“Nope.”

He looked at me, surprise on his face.

“What?”

“I don’t want to know your name. Your name is New Kid. Pinky is Pinky. The other guy in our group is Marshmallow. I don’t care about your name. Pinky will put your names on the final project.”

New Kid just looked at me, his surprise slowly turned to a smile.

“I like you. I think we’re going to be friends.”

I lay back down, flopping my notebook back onto my face.

“Doubt it. Wake me up when Pinky gets here.”

* * *

I was wakened by the removal of my notebook from my face. I looked around and spotted sunlight shining through strawberry locks. I pushed myself up.

“About time. We have to change the time-”

“Shh!”

Jinwoo quickly knelt next to me to put a hand over my mouth. He jerked his head, drawing my attention to New Kid. New Kid was stretched out on his stomach next to me, head propped up on his hands as he read through some book.

“Don’t mind me,” he muttered, “I’m just trying to figure out why we’re presenting on a theory that has been pretty well disproven.”

“Brain gets what Brain wants,” Jinwoo shrugged, sitting down between us.

New Kid rolled onto his side, posing as he did so.

“Brain? You’re Brain?”

“Only to Pinky. You can call me noona. Also,” I flopped back down, “don’t drop formalities.”

* * *

“I’m just saying, he’s going to find out. I can feel it.”

“You can feel it?”

I balanced my phone on top of my knee as I painted my nails. Jinwoo’s sigh cracked over the speaker phone.

“He follows us around all the time. He saw your list.”

“He’s a lonely New Kid. He’s so new that I haven’t given him a proper nickname. I’ll keep being rude, and he’ll eventually find someone else to latch onto.”

“You always assume that it’s me whenever he shows up somewhere. You’ve nearly told him four times this week alone. He’s going to figure it out.”

“Let him. He can’t prove anything.”

I smiled as Jinwoo groaned.

“I can feel it Brain.”

“Relax Pinky.”

* * *

“What are we doing tonight?”

I looked up at New Kid.

“I don’t know what  **you**  are doing, but Pinky and I have plans.”

“I’ll come with you.”

I tapped his notebook harshly with my pencil.

“Yah! Just do your reading for the project tonight.”

New Kid leaned back in his chair, smiling with satisfaction.

“Already finished it. You can look over my notes if you want,” he leaned forward eagerly, “so what are we doing tonight?”

I was going to start yelling, but Jinwoo put a hand on my arm. He smiled at New Kid.

“Our plans are private. They’re…” he glanced at me, “family related.”

“Oh… Oh! You two are related? I thought you were dating.”

Jinwoo’s eyebrows dipped.

“She’s not my sister.”

My turn to step in.

“Because we’re cousins! So, you know, family stuff tonight.”

“I see,” New Kid didn’t seem entirely convinced. He kept glancing between us suspiciously.

“Next time then.”

* * *

I examined the collapsible fire escape ladder that Jinwoo had brought.

“Remind me to give you a raise.”

“You don’t pay me,” he grinned, “that’s why I had to nick it.”

I reached over and pinched his cheeks.

“That’s why you’re my favourite. You let me corrupt you.”

After scrambling up a dumpster, then a drainage pipe, and skirting along the roof of the pawn shop, I had Jinwoo hold my legs as I leaned over the edge of the roof. Looking over the camera, I smiled. External wires. Cheap self-installation kit. I unplugged the cords and scrambled back up.

I handed the can of spray paint to Jinwoo.

“Won’t be needing that. Over here.”

Two more cameras unplugged, and we were ready to go.

We quickly skirted to the side wall of the impound lot. Sure, we could have scaled the chain link entry gate, but the lot had their own cameras watching it, and those weren’t cheap ones. Once you got inside though, no cameras. They relied on the entry being covered to dissuade vandals.

Well, that and the barbed wire.

After throwing a second hand store rug over the barbed wire, I boosted Jinwoo up. Then he fastened the rope ladder and tossed it down to me.

Getting out would be no problem. Just climb a car out.

I left Jinwoo to disassemble our entry point. I had a date with a blank wall.

It was bigger than I remembered. It was perfect. It was going to be mine.

By the time I was done, Jinwoo was asleep in the bed of a truck and the faintest shimmer of silver light was showing in the East. I’d be tired in class, but it was worth it. I shook Jinwoo awake and we hastily made our escape.

“What about the pawnshop cameras?”

“Fuck it. No time. Besides, once the painting is seen they’ll just blame it on Mr. Yeou Jang-gab.”

* * *

We got to school early. Luckily, that gave me time to shower before my first class. I loved post-painting showers. Colours swirled down the drain in squiggly rainbow designs.

I walked out, wrapping myself in a beach towel, and called out to Jinwoo.

“Yah! Pinky! Where’s my spare outfit?”

“White plastic bag!” He called into the locker room. I spotted the bag and yelled back to him.

“Love you!”

“Aish, this girl.”

I giggled as I pulled my clean clothes on. Hmm… Maybe I should start packing my own spare clothes. Jinwoo was always trying to get me to dress a little more… feminine.

I was tugging at my tight jeans when I walked out of the locker room.

“Yah, Pinky… What’s with this outfit? These pants are dumb. They’re brand new but full of holes. And this shirt shows too much cle-”

A whistle rang out, followed by a voice, followed by a too familiar arm over Jinwoo’s shoulders.

“Yah, Jinwoo, who’s your fri- oh my god it’s you?!”

New Kid stared at me, mouth hanging open. Over dramatic, over-reaction, overdoing it.

I raised my hand to threaten him.

“Yah! You want to die? Stop staring!”

“I’ll die happy,” New Kid winked at me, “if you promise to kill me in that outfit.”

I landed a punch on his shoulder. It seemed to shake some of the greasiness off him. He gripped his shoulder and started whining.

“Yaaahhh… What was that for?”

“Staring! Give me your jacket!”

“What for?”

“So I can… Yah!” I grabbed Jinwoo by his sleeve, “don’t think I’m done with you!”

“Noonaaa~” _fuck him and his aegyo_ , “we’re going to be la~ate.”

“I’m killing you after class. New Kid! Jacket!”

Jinwoo darted off as New Kid whined and relinquished his leather jacket.

* * *

Marshmallow was sitting next to Jinwoo when New Kid and I arrived, leaving me to sit with the fresh meat once again.

I avoided conversation by pulling me phone out. I shot a text to Jinwoo.

> _**To: Pinky  
>  I hate you. We’re ten minutes early still.** _

Jinwoo ignored his phone. Fine. Be that way. I opened Instagram. It was early, but pictures were already up in #여우장갑 and #여장. I felt warmth on my shoulder.

“You must be a fan of him.”

I shook my shoulder to dislodge New Kid’s head. I felt a firm tap on my shoulder. Marshmallow handed me a stack of papers.

“I was bored last night. Here’s the project.”

“But we…”

“It’s fine. Take it. Now we don’t have to worry about it. I’ll email you the slides if you want.”

I flipped through the pages, scanning over paragraphs and charts.

“Uh… Yeah… That’d be great. Wow. Jinwoo, look at this.”

Jinwoo held up his own sheaf of papers.

“It’s good.”

“I don’t understand any of this.”

New Kid was flipping through my stack. He had a pencil balanced between his nose and top lip. It dropped when he spoke again.

“How could you prove it? Where did you get these numbers from?”

Marshmallow leaned forward and started explaining that he had “built a thing” and the numbers were “his” to New Kid. I would have been amazed if I weren’t still flooded with anger hormones.

While New Kid and Marshmallow talked physics, I reached up and grabbed Jinwoo’s ear. He whined as I pulled him forward.

“Yaaahhh…”

“What is with this outfit?" I hissed quietly, "I swear I will get a new lackey.”

Despite his eyes watering he smirked at me. He replied in a whisper.

“What’s wrong? You got a jacket.”

“I don’t **want** a jacket.”

“Who said I did it for you?” He flicked his eyes towards New Kid. I glanced over in time to spot New Kid’s eyes leaving my thighs. I let go of Jinwoo’s ear.

“We’ll talk later Pinky.”

“Whatever you say Brain,” Jinwoo grinned.

* * *

I couldn’t focus through the whole class. It was nearly impossible to redirect Jinwoo’s focus whenever he started on one of his match-making missions. Not that any of them had ever ended the way he wanted.

“Yah, noona.”

I looked up at New Kid.

“Where are you? Class ended two minutes ago.”

“Oh,” I shook my head, “right.”

I looked around, seeing that New Kid, Chaebol, and I were the only people left in the room. Chaebol was furiously scribbling in his notebook, headphones on. _Nerd_.

New Kid looked at me expectantly.

“What?”

“My jacket?”

I tugged it tighter around myself.

“Let me borrow it for today. You saw the shirt Pinky chose.”

New Kid leaned down, resting his hand on my desk and the back of my chair. He glanced at Chaebol, making sure he was thoroughly absorbed in his work, before leaning down to my ear.

“I’d like to see more of it.”

I slid out from my seat, away from New Kid. Quickly gathering my stuff up, I headed for the door. I called over my shoulder to New Kid.

“I’ll give it back at the end of the day.”


	2. Accomplice

I sat in Art History, flicking pieces of paper at the back of Jinwoo’s head.

The professor droned. Actual drones didn’t drone as bad as this guy. I had resigned myself to a semester of learning from the book. Jinwoo had resigned himself to being the object of my boredom.

“Sim!”

I looked up to see that the professor had decided to actually look away from the board and had seen me harassing Jinwoo.

“Sorry,” I sat up straight and picked up my pen.

“I know your grades afford you to take a break, but I’ll have to ask you not to distract my other students.”

I nodded, a little embarrassed at having been caught. The professor turned back to the board and started to drone again.

I slumped and started to sketch in my notebook. I didn’t know for sure where or when my next painting would be, but that was no reason not to start planning.

Something hit the back of my head.

I turned around, scanning the seats behind me. I spotted Blondy smirking, jerking his eyebrows at me. I gave him a  _what’s-your-problem_  face. He just smiled and bit his lip at me. Shaking my head, I turned back around.

Five minutes later I felt another paper ball hit me. I tilted my head in annoyance, but kept facing forward. I was rewarded with another five minutes to myself. The pattern persisted for the rest of the class.

When the professor dismissed the class I was surrounded by little balls of paper. I leaned forward to hiss to Jinwoo.

“I take back what I said. No way is Blondy ever going to be your replacement.”

Jinwoo grinned and opened his mouth to respond, but then faltered and started packing up his bags quickly.

“You don’t seem like the leather type Sim.”

“Hm,” I was annoyed. I was wearing this ridiculous outfit. I was wearing the new kid’s jacket. I had spent the last hour getting hit by paper. No way did I want talk to the guy that had been throwing it. I started packing my stuff up. The process was halted by Blondy’s hand on my notebook. He stared me down, unblinking.

“You can leave Strawberry.”

Jinwoo looked at me, I waved him off.

“I’ll just, uh, I’ll wait outside.”

I nodded, keeping my eyes on Blondy’s too manicured nails. Pretentious nails. Jerk nails. I noticed that one of his fingers had smear of something blue on it. Blondy sat on the desk next to mine, putting his feet on the seat. He tilted his head and gave me a slight smile.

“If trouble is your type, I’m a better option.”

I conjured the most uninterested and annoyed facial expression that I could.

“I don’t have a type.”

“Then this,” he reached forward and flicked the collar of New Kid’s jacket, “is just a coincidence?”

I exaggerated my eye roll.

“Don’t waste your breath. Just say what you’re trying to say.”

His smile widened. He put his feet onto the ground and picked up my notebook. Flipping through the pages, he dropped all formalities.

“Watch yourself around that new kid. I might be trouble, but he’s plain old bad news.”

He slowly tore my painting sketch out of my notebook. Holding it up to examine it, he chuckled.

“Definitely might want to keep your hobbies a little more well guarded.”

Carefully folding the sketch, he stood and tucked it into the breast pocket of his own jacket. Handing my notebook back, he gave me a too-bright smile.

“I’ll see you around Yeou.”

* * *

Jinwoo poked his head into the classroom after Blondy left. Carefully, he approached me where I sat staring at my notebook.

“Brain?” He waved his hand in front of my face, “Braaaiiin?”

I looked up at him.

“What did K-”

“He knows who I am.”

Jinwoo sat next to me.

“Okay… And when you say knows who you are…?”

“He called me Yeou.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

We sat for a while. Eventually students started filtering in for some class and we finally had to leave.

* * *

New Kid wrapped an arm around the both of us, as we stared at the menu in the cafeteria. I had been reading it for ten minutes, and still had no idea what was being served.

“There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you two.”

I stayed silent, Jinwoo just hummed. New Kid pulled out his phone.

“By the way, noona, have you seen Yeojang’s new piece? Looks like I was wrong about that area. Crazy that you predicted it though.”

“Mm,” I didn’t look at the phone being held in front of me. I already knew what my painting looked like. And so did Blondy. In fact, Blondy now had an idea about what my next one would look like as well.

“What’s with you two?” New Kid looked between Pinky and I, “you look like someone died.”

“Something like that,” Jinwoo mumbled.

“What happened?”

I looked up New Kid. I made a quick mental comparison between him and Blondy.

> **Stylised gangster look:**  
>  Blondy – Yes  
> New Kid – Yes
> 
> **Annoying smirks:**  
>  Blondy – Yes  
> New Kid – Yes
> 
> **Cocky/Arrogance:**  
>  Blondy – Yes  
> New Kid – Yes
> 
> **Knows who I am:**  
>  Blondy – Yes  
> New Kid – Probably not

“It’s nothing. Why were you looking for us?”

New Kid looked a little off guard, but quickly recovered.

“Oh, I just wanted to see what you guys are up to tonight.”

Jinwoo and I exchanged a look. He shrugged, deferring to whatever I wanted. I sighed, ready for a distraction.

“Nothing. Got any suggestions?”

New Kid grinned.

“Well, there’s this place…”

* * *

It _looked_ like a laundromat.

It _smelled_ like a laundromat.

It was a fucking _laundromat_.

I nudged Jinwoo.

“He said 9pm, right? Text him to make sure.”

Jinwoo pulled out his phone and tapped at it. After a second he put it in his pocket.

“He says he’ll be right out.”

“What?”

Jinwoo shrugged. I dug my hands into my pockets and hunched over, looking up and down the street. There was a bar a little ways up the road. Maybe that’s where we were supposed to go.

“Guys, come in already.”

New Kid stood in the doorway of the laundromat, waving us in. Jinwoo and I looked at each other. I shrugged. I was up for it if he was.

Jinwoo walked in.

New Kid led us behind the counter, into the back room. There were bags of other people’s laundry stacked around, and the whole place smelled like Spring Rain™.

New Kid opened a door and we were greeted by a rusty staircase, shitty mood lighting, smoke, and the feeling of bass reverberating in my teeth. He smiled back at us and headed down the steps. I was about to follow when Jinwoo stopped me.

“I’ll go first.”

He headed down, cautiously looking around. Satisfied enough, he gestured for me to follow. I made sure to shut the door behind me.

* * *

I felt like we had become extras in a movie about seedy street racers. First impressions are hard to get past, and this place had given up trying. A bar with a chipped veneer lined one wall. It was tended by boys pretty enough to be models, and girls dolled up to look like they were still in middle school. The speaker system was playing something that was probably called something like Dream Bass or Chill Trap or Future Pop. A haze filled the room, but it seemed to be more from smoke machines than actual cigarettes. My eyes felt like they might roll down my throat from how hard I rolled them.

“I know it’s a little tacky,” New Kid put his arms around Jinwoo and I, “there’s an expectation of a certain kind of… classlessness though.”

“Uh,” Jinwoo cleared his throat, “why are we here?”

“To drink, for free.”

New Kid whistled and held up three fingers. A man with perfect eyeliner nodded and started pulling bottles from a cooler. Jinwoo and I were ushered to a table near the back. I decided to ask the obvious question.

“Why do we drink for free?”

“My family owns the place.”

Eyeliner laid a tray on the table. He cocked his hip.

“Who are your guests oppa~?”

New Kid shot him a warm smile and winked at... him? Her? I wondered for a second but then realised I didn't really care either way.

“Just some classmates Jiya.”

Jiya ran a perfectly manicured hand through New Kid’s hair, pouting slightly.

“You’ve been away too long. We missed you.”

“Don’t worry. I’m back now.”

New Kid sent Jiya on their way and turned back to pour drinks for Jinwoo and I. Jinwoo looked a little shocked, but I didn’t care. If New Kid was gay, that meant I didn’t have to give his flirting any mind. If he wasn’t, well, I _still_ didn’t have to give his flirting any mind. I did like a chance to tease though.

“Oppa?”

New Kid chuckled.

“Jiya is six years older than me but still insists on that,” he shrugged, “we’ve all got characters that we play,” he handed a glass to me, cocking his head to the side, “you know?”

> **Knows who I am:**  
>  Blondy – Yes  
> New Kid – ???

“I’ll take your word for it.”

For the little while that we drank, Jinwoo got more attention than he was used to. Some of the bar boys, and nearly all of the bar girls, stopped by at one point or another to ask him if he needed anything and to insist that all he had to do was ask. He was obviously uncomfortable, which only made it worse in some cases.

“Aaahhh, look at you~! When you blush you’re just all pink~. Like strawberry ice cream, I could just lick you up~!”

The girl cooing over Jinwoo moved closer to him, making him slide his chair closer to me. I smiled and decided to help the poor man. I put my arm over his shoulder, resting my head on him.

“Yes, my Pinky is the cutest, isn’t he?”

After Jinwoo was thoroughly traumatised and alcohol soaked, New Kid announced that it was time to head out. Again, the obvious question had to be asked.

“Where?”

New Kid shot me a surprisingly charming smile. _Maybe I shouldn’t have drank so much._

“You’ll see.”

* * *

This place was upscale. Kind of. It was the kind of place that was expensive to get into anyway. And here we were, sitting in the VIP lounge. I had tried to ask how we got here, but New Kid had just laughed and told me that I worried too much. Jinwoo agreed with him, then pointed over the railing to the dance floor.

“I’m going down there. I need to sweat this out.”

New Kid stopped him to fasten a blue band around his wrist.

“So you can get back in.”

Jinwoo nodded and disappeared down the stairs. I went to the railing to keep an eye on my Pinky, joined quickly by New Kid.

“You really look out for each other, huh?”

I kept my eyes on the dance floor.

“Yeah.”

“So how do you really know each other?”

“We’re cousins.”

“No you’re not. You’re not related at all. But you’re definitely not dating either. So what is it?”

I looked up at New Kid.

“Can’t a girl have a best friend?”

“Yeah, but aren’t those usually other girls? He’s like your lackey, but there isn’t any romantic or sexual tension.”

He took a step closer to me, resting a hand on the railing by my waist. He gave me that charming smile again.

“Unlike with us.”

I sidestepped his advance.

“Friendships come in all varieties.”

“Alright, fine. If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. I just wondered is all.”

“Mm.”

We stood in silence, my eyes trailing around the crowd, but always falling back to the pink locks of Jinwoo. New Kid eventually spoke up again.

“Dance wi-”

“Isn’t that Chaebol over there?” I pointed to the railing across from us. New Kid looked up.

“Chaebol?” He spotted our well dressed classmate, “oh, you mean Lee? He’s early. Come on.”

He didn’t offer me a chance to protest before grabbing my hand and pulling me to the other side of the balcony.

“Seunghoon!”

Chaebol looked over, then stood up straight. He spared me a glance before speaking to New Kid.

“You’ve got it?”

New Kid crossed his arms.

“How about you?”

Chaebol patted a bulge in his jacket pocket before responding.

“Where?”

“Come on.”

My hand was in New Kid’s again. Chaebol followed us into a private room. I looked it over. Would this be VVIP? How deep does the VIP hole go?

I was aware of a hand slipping under the jacket I was still wearing. I grabbed it and twisted, lashing out with my other hand to grab the neck attached to the owner. Chaebol laughed as I pinned New Kid to the door of the room. New Kid smiled and rolled his eyes.

“Relax, I wasn’t trying to molest you.”

“What are you-”

“Just let go.”

I looked between Chaebol and New Kid. Why was I here? Where was Jinwoo? I let go of New Kid’s wrist and neck. He straightened his shirt out before lifting the left side of the jacket from my body.

“There’s a pocket here.”

He reached into it and retrieved a little brown wrapped package, which he tossed to Chaebol. In turn, Chaebol pulled a wad of bills from his pocket and handed it to me.

I looked at it.

“Well?” Chaebol wiggled it.

I looked at New Kid.

“Count it.”

Hesitantly, I took the bills and snapped the rubber band off them and onto my wrist. I quickly counted, bank faced, and recounted them. As I did so, Chaebol lifted a flap of the little package and inspected the contents.

“₩3,000,000.00.”

New Kid nodded and waved Chaebol towards the door.

“Say hi to your cousin for me.”

Chaebol gave New Kid a disgusted look as he left the room.

_Am I an accessory? An accomplice? Was that a drug deal? That was definitely a drug deal._ I needed to get Jinwoo and get the fuck out of here. Preferably without raising any of New Kid’s red flags.

“There’s a window.”

I looked up. New Kid nodded towards a wall. There was a window. It looked out over the stage and crowd. I dropped the money on the table and nearly ran to it. Jinwoo was dancing with some girl. He was having fun. He had no clue what had just happened.

“Relax,” I turned to see New Kid gathering up the bills from the table.

“It’s not like I’m going to hurt you or anything.”

_That’s exactly what someone who was going to hurt me would say._

“Why did you bring me here?”

New Kid reclined on one of the sofas.

“You had my jacket.”

I heard the rushing of blood in my ears. I had been wearing this jacket all day. I had been wearing it at school. I had had that package on me all day, at school. I had been wearing a jacket, with drugs in it, at school, all day.

If I hadn’t had it, New Kid would have. Didn’t he worry about getting caught? Just carrying that around?

I quickly stripped the jacket off and tossed it to New Kid.

“Well now I don’t.”

New Kid gave me another crooked, cocky, and unsettlingly charming smile and sat up straight. He held a hand out towards me, beckoning me closer.

“What are you so afraid of? I already said I’m not going to hurt you.”

I took a step back, towards the window overlooking the crowd.

“Then what are you going to do?”

New Kid stood up. I took another step back, bumping into the plastic of the window.

“Would you feel more comfortable back out there?” He nodded towards the door behind him, “with more eyes?”

“Yes.”

He nodded, then stepped aside.

“Ladies first.”

My heart was racing. I didn’t exactly have an option but to pass him.

My hand was on the knob when he caught my other wrist. He spun me, pushing me against the door with his hips.

“Yah!”

He held my hand up and plucked the rubber band off of it. He left his knee between my legs as he re-wrapped the bundle of money and tucked it into his leather jacket. He seemed entirely unconcerned with our proximity while he did this.

Once he zipped up the inside pocket, he pulled back, letting me free. I stayed still, not knowing what might come next. He just looked at me, holding the jacket.

“Let’s go.”

I slowly turned to face the door. I was a little less than surprised when I felt hands grab my waist and pull me back. That doesn’t mean I didn’t squeal though.

Then I felt him slip one of the jacket sleeves over my arm. He gently pulled my other arm back to slide the second sleeve on. He straightened the jacket over my shoulders then leaned forward, speaking into my ear.

“This isn’t the kind of place to go uncovered. Keep my money safe, will you?”

I just nodded, not trusting my voice to not waver.

Briefly letting his lips brush against my neck, he reached past me and opened the door. With a hand on the small of my back, he ushered me back onto the balcony.

* * *

I clutched my glass of… something red and watched Jinwoo. New Kid was chatting with some guy that looked like a character in Transmetropolitan. I’d glance over every once in a while. He was different here. At school he was cocky sometimes, but generally I was sure of my place at the top of the food chain.

I didn’t like having to rethink my position.

Looking back down at the dance floor, I panicked. Jinwoo was nowhere to be seen. The beacon of bright pink hair was gone. I started walking along the balcony railing, trying to see if he was under the overhang somewhere.

Even after a full circuit around the edge, I saw no sign of Jinwoo. I weighed my options. I could wait here, where he had last seen me. I could go look for him, and risk getting lost myself. I glanced at New Kid, whose name I was really wishing I had learned. I could ask him to help me look. No. Bad idea. I don’t want to be owing someone like that favours.

I headed for the door to the stairs. About half way there I remembered the wristband that New Kid had given Jinwoo. _Shit. Alright._ I detoured to where New Kid was still talking to the would-be cyberpunk. After making sure my old customer service smile was in place I sat next to him. He easily laid his arm over my shoulder.

“Just a second,” he turned his attention to me, “are you bored honey?”

_Bear with it._  I tried to be cute and pout.

“I lost Pinky.”

New “ _I really need to come up with a better name for him_ ” Kid smiled at me warmly.

“Go look for him then. Or do you want my help?”

I held my hands up.

“No wristband. I can’t get back in if I find him.”

New Kid laughed, running his hand through my hair. He was pushing it. He was really fucking pushing it.  _Just chill_ , I reminded myself. I only needed to find Jinwoo, return this kid’s jacket and three million won, and bounce the fuck out.

“You won’t need one silly,” his hand was out of my hair, now thumbing at my lip, tugging my pout out from between my teeth, “they saw you come in with me. Go ahead.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“Are you sure?”

He just smiled and nodded.

“Yes. Now go get our Pinky.”

I was out of VIP as fast as I could be.  _Our Pinky? OUR Pinky?!_  For some reason that was more than I cared to deal with. Leaving quickly seemed like a better option than starting a scene though.

* * *

I made a loop around the main dance floor. No Jinwoo. I headed down a level. I stalked around a room with a live stage. No Pinky. I went to the other dance floor on the ground level. No sign of Pinky there either.

Down another level. The basement dance floor was devoid of most decoration, save for the performer’s cage. There was a DJ inside it, and way too many bodies pressed around it. I dug my hands into the pockets of the leather jacket, not keen to find out what would happen if I lost the money.

I spotted Jinwoo. He, or rather his neck, was being messily kissed by a girl in a purple dress. He seemed entirely too drunk for his own good. I put on my angry face and marched over.

“Yah!” I shouted over the music, “Jinwoo-ah! What do you think you’re doing?! When Seonyi finds out she is…”

The purple dress was retreating hastily. Jinwoo looked at me blearily.

“Brain? Where were you? I lost you.”

I shook my head and looped an arm through his, tugging him out of the room. He kept babbling as I dragged him back up three flights of stairs to VIP. New Kid was right. We had no issue getting back in.

I found an empty couch and sat him down on it. Kneeling in front of him I looked him over.

“You’re wasted.”

Jinwoo shook his head.

“I’m fine.”

“You have a hickey.”

“What?” Jinwoo looked down at his chest, as if he’d be able to see it, “where?”

“Here,” I poked at his neck. I hung my head for a second and sighed.

“Stay right here. I’m going to get you some water or something.”

I stood and looked around. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a bar up here. Maybe they had wait-staff? I didn’t see any obvious servers though. Deciding that I didn’t have time to figure it out, I headed back down to the main dance floor.


	3. Interruption

The bar tender didn’t seem happy about my just wanting water, but went to retrieve a bottle anyway. I paid the ₩3,000 and slumped against the too-tall bar while I waited.

_What am I doing here?_ I’d been here before but I couldn’t be just a regular dancing patron this time. _Who the fuck was New Kid?_ Why did he insist on me…

I grabbed a hand, twisting and catching the wrist. I turned to see…

“Blondy?”

He was grimacing, his whole body bending to relieve the tension on his wrist. I quickly let go. He pouted and rubbed his wrist.

“I have a name you know.”

“Don’t care. What are you doing here?”

He raised his eyebrows.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?”

I rolled my eyes.

“New Kid dragged Jinwoo and I out. I’m just getting water for Jinwoo,” I gave him a sarcastic smile, “happy? What do you want?”

Blondy smirked, as if I had just proven him right about something.

“You’re here with Mino?”

“If that’s the new kid, then yes?”

Blondy cocked his head, smiling slightly.

“You keep surprising me Yeou.”

I quickly raised my hand to cover his mouth.

“Shh! What are you doing?!”

He laughed into my hand, placing his own hands on the bar behind me to either side of me. I uncovered his mouth.

“That’s your nickname, isn’t it?”

I shut my mouth, not denying it, but not confirming it either. Blondy grinned and leaned forward. His eyes kept flicking down to my lips. I kept my own focused on his irises. When he was barely three centimetres away from me he stopped.

“He’s watching you, you know. He’s been watching since you stepped up to the bar,” he tilted his head, “how much are you going to cave to him?”

I glanced around. The tilt of Blondy’s head allowed me to see New Kid, Mino, watching us intently. _Fuck that dude._  I made a bad decision.

“Don’t get cocky.”

I wrapped my hand into Blondy’s hair and pulled him down. The kiss was less than magical, less than good, less than even just nice. It was convenient. I closed my eyes to sell it. Blondy leaned into me for whatever his reason was.

I felt his hand slip under the jacket. I gripped it tightly, digging my nails into the soft spot between the tendons. Blondy hissed and pulled back. Glancing upwards, I noticed that Mino was no longer at the railing.

“I said don’t get cocky.”

He laughed, then bent forward again. This time I evaded the kiss. He knit his eyebrows together.

“What?”

“I had a point to prove. That’s it.”

Blondy licked his lips and nodded slowly.

“Got anything else to prove?”

“No.”

He nodded again and pulled back further. His hand that was still on the bar came down, holding a bottle of water.

“This is yours, right?”

“Yes,” I took the bottle from his hand, “thank you. Now I’ve got to go collect Jinwoo.”

He cocked his head in what I was realising was a habit.

“Jinwoo gets a real name?”

“Jinwoo is important.”

I ducked under Blondy’s arm and headed back upstairs.

* * *

I sat next to Jinwoo, rubbing his back softly as he tried to drink the water. Every once in a while he mumbled something incoherent. I just made agreeing noises and kept rubbing his back.

Mino approached, a small glass in either hand. Setting one on the table in front of me, he stood and watched us.

“Looks like he had fun.”

“Too much fun.” I didn’t bother looking up.

“It looked like you were having fun too.”

_Don’t give him the satisfaction. Don’t give him the satisfaction. Just keep an eye on Pinky._

“I didn’t realise you have a boyfriend. It’s too bad.”

I sighed, still avoiding looking up at him.

“No it’s not.”

“Sure it is,” Mino sat next to me, “girls like you?” I felt his hand brush through my hair. I kept my attention on Jinwoo, waiting for him to make his point.

“You should be with a man that can afford the life you deserve.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sure I’ll find a suitable partner some day.”

Mino leaned forward, lifting the cup he had set down. He offered it to me more directly.

“So you admit that your boyfriend isn’t suitable?”

I accepted the cup. Smiling pleasantly at Mino, I told the truth.

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

Mino raised an eyebrow. I downed the contents of the whiskey glass and turned my attention back to Jinwoo, who was tugging on my sleeve.

“Noona… Noona I can’t…”

I stood up quickly, pulling Jinwoo to his feet.

“Mino, bathroom, now!”

Mino accepted the urgency in my voice and rushed Jinwoo through a well-concealed door next to a fake potted plant.

_No choice but to leave them to it._ I wandered back over to the railing and looked down. I spotted Blondy talking to a very well-groomed looking man. Squinting, I took in the man’s torn jeans, maintained eyebrows, and high cheekbones. He looked like he had just stepped out of a car magazine or something. I felt my heart stutter for a second. Then I felt it start racing.

Blondy had turned, scanning the balcony. Having spotted me, he smiled. Patting the man’s chest lightly, he nodded up at me. The man raised his own eyes. _Maybe_ our eyes met. Maybe that’s just what I told myself.

Thank god for the railing. Turns out that going weak in the knees is not just an expression. The man looked away and I tried to regain my composure. I felt a presence next to me.

It was the cyberpunk. He nodded to me, observing me from behind green tinted glasses.

“So why are you special?”

_I don’t know what I expected._

“What do you mean?”

The guy sneered.

“He doesn’t bring just anyone up here you know.”

“Mino?”

He nodded slowly.

“I don’t know. Maybe I have good taste in art.”

“Maybe.”

I tried to find Blondy, or his friend again, but was unable. I turned back to the cyberpunk, but he was a ways away, already talking to someone else. I groaned; tired, bored, and entirely ready to leave. I’d been awake for nearly forty eight hours. No wonder Jinwoo was in such bad shape.

A few minutes later, Jinwoo and Mino came out of the bathroom. I watched them. Mino seemed gentle with my increasingly pale friend. He set him carefully back onto the sofa and handed him the water bottle again. After a few words and a smile, he headed directly for me. Shit. Had he seen me watching?

“Let’s talk.”

* * *

Mino shut the door to the VVIP room behind him. Running a hand through his hair, he paced for a minute. I stood next to the window. It seemed like the safest spot. Higher chance of being spotted.

“Who told you my name?” Mino stared me down, “you didn’t let me tell you. Was it Key?”

“If that’s the blonde guy, yes.”

Mino made an annoyed noise and looked away from me for a second. His face was cold when he looked at me again.

“You didn’t even know his name? Here I thought you were dating that bastard and you didn’t even know his **name?!** ” He shouted the last word.

Quickly turning away from me, he ran both of his hands through his hair. After a second his shoulders relaxed. More composed, he turned back to face me.

“Yah, don’t hang out with trash like that. They’re nothing but trouble.”

“So he mentioned,” Mino took a step towards me when I said it. Tapping my finger against my chin, I over-acted trying to remember.

“What was it exactly? Right!” I snapped my fingers, “he said that he was trouble, but you were bad news.”

Mino scoffed at that, moving towards me again.

“I give people results. If that result is bad news,” I was pressed against the heavy plastic window from trying to maintain space between us now, “they must have made bad choices.”

Mino ran his hand through my hair again.  _Does he have a tactile thing?_

“Why did you kiss that garbage?”

_There it is._  I decided to lie.

“He kissed me, actually. I just followed his lead.”

Mino nodded, appearing to buy it.

“Next time you kiss someone, make sure you kiss them first. Men like that need to be put in their place. Also,” he lifted my chin with his forefinger, staring me down, “make sure it’s me.”

I blinked. Just like that, he was retreating out of the room.

* * *

There was a familiarly slim body in my bed. There was also a familiarly aggravating beeping noise invading my sleep. I stumbled out of bed and turned off my alarm. Jinwoo rolled onto his back and whined.

“What happened last night?”

“We went out with New Kid.”

He pushed himself up to sitting, looking around.

“Why is my shirt off?”

I snorted.

“You were convinced that you would suffocate to death in your sleep if you wore it to bed.”

“It’s a legitimate fear.”

“Yeah, yeah. Get up. I’ll buy you breakfast.”

That seemed to break through his haze. We both bustled through my tiny apartment to get ready for classes.

On the way to class we stopped by a cafe for coffee and waffles. Jinwoo squinted at me.

“Since when do you have money?”

* * *

 

> “Here.”
> 
> I looked at the bills being held out to me, then back up at Mino.
> 
> “What’s this for?”
> 
> He held up a hand and ticked off fingers
> 
> “One, you helped me out. Two, to keep you quiet about helping me. Three,” he leaned against the door to my building and gave me a tired smile, “I told you that you need a man that can afford to keep you comfortable.” 

* * *

 “I did someone a favour.”

Jinwoo cocked a brow, but could tell from my tone not to ask for more details.

“Why did we let New Kid convince us to go out on a Wednesday?”

“Because we’re idiots. Hurry up, we gotta get going.”

* * *

Jinwoo and I sat on a bench in the quad after a tiresome ethics lecture. I stretched my head back, desperate to soak in more warmth from the sun.

A body squeezed itself between us. An arm found it’s way around my shoulder.

“Ah, there you guys are. How are you feeling Jinwoo? Not too bad, I hope.”

Jinwoo waved a hand at him weakly.

“I’ll live.”

I looked over, seeing that Mino only had an arm around me. I groaned.

“You’re too energetic,” I uselessly tried to shrug his arm off, “and it’s too warm for this.”

“Yes. But I need to talk to you. Excuse us for a minute Jinwoo.”

Mino gripped my shoulders tightly and hauled me off the bench. Jinwoo looked unconcerned as Mino dragged me to the student-free shade under a sycamore.

“What do you want?”

“Here.”

He shrugged his leather jacket off and held it up to me. I looked at it and frowned.

“I’m not your mule.”

“It’s not like that,” he shook the jacket at me, “it’s clean. Check the pockets if you want.”

I made no move to do anything to the jacket.

“Then why are you-”

“Just fucking wear it. It will keep that flea from last night off of you.”

I scoffed, pushing past Mino, and the jacket.

“I’m not your girlfriend either.”

* * *

I sat next to Marshmallow in physics, not allowing room for Mino to sit next to me. I left the class as fast as possible too, not wanting to offer him another chance to talk to me solo.

I practically jogged across campus, arriving a quarter hour early to my history lecture. Luckily, the classroom was not only empty, but also unlocked when I got there. Slinging my bag onto a desk near the back, I sat down and slumped over it.

_This is why things are best with just Jinwoo and I. When other people get involved life gets too complicated._  I groaned into my bag.

“What’s wrong Yeou?”

_Shit._

“Go sit somewhere else.”

“Hmm, no. You need help.”

I lifted my head to look up at Key.

“How do you figure?”

My mistake was engaging him. Key slid into the seat next to me and started pulling out his notebooks and pencils.

“Because you’re not wearing his jacket today. And he’s not well known for accepting rejection gracefully.”

I leaned back in my seat, crossing my arms.

“Who says he did anything that needed rejection?”

Key leaned forward on his desk, resting his head on his hand. He smiled brightly.

“He let you wear his jacket, he brought you to his club…” he looked me up and down, “and Taehyun wouldn’t have checked you out if Mino wasn’t interested.”

I sorted through my memories of last night. Chaebol’s name had been Sun… Seung… Something with an Seu sound.

“Which is Taehyun?”

“You know,” Key lifted his hands, making circles around his eyes, “the guy that wants to make sure he’s noticed. He probably reads too many Neal Stephenson books.”

_Cyberpunk._ I nodded as I mulled over Key’s words.

“I don’t think he was really checking me out.”

Key laughed.

“Not like that. You are… not his type anyway. He likes to keep an eye on Mino’s relationships though.”

“Relationship? What relationship? He’s the new kid that was put in my physics group and doesn’t have friends. He’s a nerd.”

“Who’s a nerd?”

I turned to see Jinwoo leaning over the desk behind me.

“Ah, no one. Just trash talking with Blondy.”

Jinwoo nodded and leaned back. He grimaced.

“Do you have your w-”

I handed him my bottle of water. He smiled appreciatively as he took it. He promptly chugged half my bottle.

Key watched intently.

“Drank that much last night?”

Jinwoo shrugged, screwing the cap back in place.

“I guess. I don’t usually get hangovers though.”

"You're getting old Pinky."

Key just bit his lip and turned to face forward. More students were filtering in, though there was still another five minutes before class started.

Halfway through the class Key was asleep and Jinwoo wasn’t too far behind him.

* * *

There was a knock on the door to the classroom. It was followed by the silk button up and perfectly styled hair of Chaebol. A whispered conversation with the professor followed. I took the opportunity to fill out my notes.

“Sim!”

I looked up, annoyed. I wasn’t doing anything wrong.

“Get your stuff and go with Mr. Lee.”

“What? Why?”

“I doubt you want your business discussed in front of the entire class. Hurry up.”

I looked at Jinwoo. He looked bewildered, shrugging and making a phone gesture. I nodded and packed up my notebook.

* * *

“What’s going on?”

Chaebol didn’t answer as he led me through halls and between buildings towards the parking area. He looked annoyed though. Once we reached the edge of lot C he stopped and pointed.

“Over there. Don’t make him wait.”

“Don’t make who wait?”

Chaebol pulled out a cigarette and gave me a  _don’t act like you don’t know_  look.

“What?”

He sighed, then lit his cigarette.

“Mino. He wants you.”

I rolled my eyes and turned back towards the school. Chaebol quickly grabbed my arm and moved to block my way. He looked… concerned.

“Just go to him. It will be better for everyone if you go now.”

“Who’s ‘everyone’ in this case?”

“You, me… Jinwoo... your parents,” I scoffed, “… your sister.”

Clenching my jaw, I tore my hand out of Chaebol’s grip.

“I’m only doing this for Jinwoo.”

Chaebol raised his hands, as if protesting an accusation.

“I don’t care **why** you’re doing it, just as long as you don’t keep him waiting much longer.”


	4. Codependency

Mino’s smile didn’t match up with what was, in my mind, essentially a hostage situation.

“You came!”

He said it as if he hadn’t sent someone to collect and threaten me. As if there was actually an option other than coming.

He opened the passenger side door to his too-clean car and waved me to sit down. I stayed standing.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

He looked a little taken aback by my angry tone.

“I… I want to give you something.”

“And it couldn’t wait until my classes were over?”

He smiled, trying to appease me.

“I’m sure Jinwoo will take good notes. Besides, I’m too excited to wait.”

He gestured towards the passenger seat again. I glanced at it, running my tongue over my teeth.

“I heard you don’t take rejection well, so I guess I should just get this over with.”

Mino frowned at that. Shutting the door, he stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m not trying to make this a chore. I won’t force you to come with me.”

I clicked my teeth, hissing an inhalation between them.

“Right. That’s why Chaebol was making threats about Jinwoo. Because you  **don’t**  want to force anything.”

Mino sighed, then gave me an apologetic and disappointed looking smile. How can one person have so many different kinds of smiles?

“Seunghoon has me all wrong. Besides, if I want to prove myself to you, hurting the single most important person in your life wouldn’t be a smart move,” he pulled the door open again, looking genuinely repentant, “so will you let me show you what I’m worth?”

* * *

I was tired of his voice. I was tired of his car. I was tired of his hand accidentally brushing against my leg when he shifted gears. I distracted myself by mentally writing down directions back to the school.

Silence filled the car. His fingers tapped impatiently on my thigh.  _Shit. What did I miss?_

“Mm?”

“For the apartment.”

My eyes darted around the car. It was a futile search for clues. We were just driving through some neighbourhood.

“What apartment?”

Mino laughed and shook his head.

“You must still be tired from last night. You’ll see.”

_Right. Tired. That’s what it is._

* * *

“Here.”

The car was parked in a residential area. It looked like a nice place. Mino quickly got out and started around the car. He pouted as I got out of the car.

“Ah, I wanted to be a gentleman. Get the door for you.”

“Why change your tactic now?”

He looked angry for a split second, but then laughed. His facial expression changed so quickly I wasn’t sure that I had really seen it. He held his hand out to me. There was an awkward moment while I didn’t take it. Laughing slightly, he grabbed my hand and started towards one of the buildings.

His grip on my hand stayed in place through the lobby. It stayed in place while we waited for the elevator. It was loosed in the elevator, only to be replaced by an arm around my shoulder.

“You’ll love this place,” he smiled broadly, “I just know it. It’s perfect.”

* * *

There was some sort of mental block about what I was seeing.  **That**  looked like my sofa.  **Those** looked like my books, though the bookshelf was an actual bookshelf. No milk crates here. I let Mino give me a full tour.

Same bed as mine, though with nicer sheets. Same clothes as mine inside a closet that was as big as my apartment, with a few nicer additions. Even the computer on top of the desk looked like mine.

Mino stood in front of me in the kitchen grinning. He looked like he was expecting me to say something.

“Whose apartment is this?”

He laughed and moved to the cupboard. Pulling out a cup he moved to the fridge.

“It’s yours. Look, I know it seems big, but that’s to make room for Jinwoo. That way you won’t have to let another man,” his nose crinkled in distaste, “sleep in your bed.”

I opened my mouth, then shut it. I repeated the process a few times. As he waited for me to finish, he busied himself filling the cup with juice.

“How did you get my stuff in here?”

“With the spare key. Here,” he held the juice towards me, “this will make you feel better.”

Distractedly, I took the cup. After a sip, and a second for my brain to catch up, I pointed out a flaw in his story.

"I didn’t give you a spare key.”

* * *

 

> “You can put the key on the table next to the other set. I’m gonna lay Jinwoo down.”
> 
> I heard the clank and jingle of keys as I tucked Jinwoo into my bed. Mino’s voice followed me easily through the tiny apartment.
> 
> “You two live together?”
> 
> “Might as well. He sleeps here often enough.”

* * *

 

“Remember? You made a point to let me know about the other set.”

I screwed my eyes shut tight and raised a hand to my forehead.

“Okay… Supposing that that even makes sense as a misunderstanding, that doesn’t explain why my stuff is in this apartment.”

“Honey,” he tucked my hair back behind my ear, and pressed the cup tighter into my hands, “I can’t let you live in that place. It’s a bad neighbourhood. Who knows what kind of vermin might find you there? Well,” he chuckled, smiling almost childishly, “actually, I know exactly what kind.”

_This man is insane. This man is literally crazy. I am in an apartment, alone, with a lunatic. What am I supposed to do?_

“Um… Mino? This is, I mean,” I swallowed thickly, “this place is great. It’s amazing.”

He was smiling and nodding.

“But, uh, I can’t live here.”

Mino’s smile dropped. Fingers through his hair, looking around the living room. My entire body was tensed, prepared for the worst case scenario.

Mino walked past me and out onto the patio. Did I mention the patio? It wasn’t just a smoker’s walkway. It was a proper patio, complete with furniture, a grill, and a fucking hot tub.

I stayed inside, watching him dial someone up on the phone through the window.

Drinking more of the juice, I pulled out my own phone. Class should be out by now, so I shot Jinwoo a text.

> _**To: Pinky  
>  If I disappear, it’s because the New Kid killed me. No big deal.** _

After I sent it, I cleared the message log and dropped my phone in my pocket. Maybe that was paranoia, but, I mean, I think the situation called for it. I just felt exhausted at this point.

I flopped onto my sofa and waited.

> **From: Pinky  
>  You’re so dramatic.**

I waited.

And waited.

* * *

Fingers in my hair. Warmth next to me. Blanket over me. Dark room.

I sat up and looked down. I was tucked into my bed. Mino was lying next to me, though he was on top of the blankets. He smiled at me and pulled me to lie back down.

“I must have talked for a long time. You fell asleep, so I put you to bed. Jinwoo will be here soon.”

“What…”

He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to his chest.

“I called your old landlord. He already found a new tenant for your room. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t budge.”

I went to sit up again, but Mino just cuddled me back down.

“Just go back to sleep. Jinwoo will call when he gets here.”

I had to admit that I was still tired. _Last night must have really taken a toll on me._ My brain felt heavy.

“Something’s wrong,” my tongue felt heavy too. It was a hassle to speak.

“Hush. I’ll make sure everything is alright. Just sleep for now.”

“My body…”

“Are you too warm? Here,” Mino sat up and flipped the covers off of me, “better?”

It was.

* * *

“Brain… Braaaiiin… Brainy Brainy noonaaa…”

I blinked my eyes open to be greeted by Jinwoo’s bright smile. My mouth tasted like salty peaches.

“Isn’t this great?” Jinwoo sat on my bed next to me. He looked around the room happily.

“We always said we’d get a place together, right? This is much better than any place we could have found.”

I dragged myself into a sitting position and laid my head on his shoulder.

“Where’s Mino?”

“He’s ordering some food for us.”

Slipping my arms around Jinwoo I hugged him tightly.

“Isn’t this… This is weird. It doesn’t make sense Pinky. Why is he doing this for us?”

Jinwoo shrugged.

“His family is rich. We talked while you slept. He doesn’t see the point in having money if you’re not helping people.”

Jinwoo freed his arm from where I had squished it between us and put it around my shoulder.

“You have to admit, we’re definitely charity candidates.”

I shook my head into his chest. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to do.  _Should I tell Jinwoo about the warnings from Key? That Mino’s riches were based, at least in part, in drugs? Should I tell him about what Chaebol had said? Or were they all really just making assumptions about him?_  Nothing seemed to make sense.

Pulling away from Jinwoo, I tried to straighten out the tangles that sleep had knotted into my hair. I had always taken care of my Pinky. Ever since we were little and his parents were absent most of the time.  _Should I pass up on this opportunity just because of some possible morality issue?_  He and I didn’t have spotless pasts either. I was in college and still vandalising every blank wall I could get to, and bringing him along for the ride.

As I was wrestling with a sudden increase in conscience, Mino poked his head through the door.

“You’re up? Good. I’ll go pick up the food, okay?”

Jinwoo stood to give him a proper thanks. I just nodded and mumbled one from where I was.

* * *

“Have you see the view from outside?” Jinwoo’s eyes were wide and happy. I let him drag me out to the patio. The sun was setting, casting an orangey-purple glow across the city below us. Jinwoo eagerly pointed out buildings he recognised. As usual, he soon had me relaxed and laughing at his stories and jokes.

“… He still watches me like a criminal whenever I go there for eggs.”

I flicked the accumulation of ash from the end of what had turned out to be the last cigarette in my pack.

“You are a criminal Pinky.”

He smiled and hummed softly. The city laid out around us, relatively quiet from so high up.

“You don’t trust him, do you?”

I stalled, inhaling smoke deeply. After blowing a puff out I sighed.

“Yeah.”

Jinwoo nodded, looking a little sad.

“Why?”

“I’ve heard things,” I stretched my legs out, “and seen things. He’s not… Honest.”

“Neither are we,” he pointed out, “ages, names… we lie about everything.”

“We’re honest when it counts. He’s trying to…” I waved my hand through the air, “manufacture a relationship with us. We’ve known him for a semester, but he buys us an apartment? It’s weird.”

The atmosphere was tense again.

“Last night was the first time we’ve hung out with him outside school.”

Jinwoo didn’t argue, but his body language seemed to disagree with me. It was clear that he wanted to believe Mino’s philanthropy story.

* * *

“Chicke~~n!”

Jinwoo was on his feet and heading inside in an instant.

“Ah, thank you~!” He called through the sliding door.

I didn’t immediately follow him inside, taking the opportunity to watch the two men interact through the glass doors. Bouncing around, Jinwoo was expressing his thankfulness and excitement with his entire body. Mino’s laughter seemed genuine, his eyes shining brightly. Of course, Jinwoo could get that reaction out of anyone.

They were setting out plates and divvying up the chicken as they talked. When they were done, Mino came out to get me.

“Hungry? Come eat with us honey.”

A groan threatened to escape my lips. I should probably nip that little habit right now.

“I told you I’m not your girlfriend.”

“What else am I supposed to call you? Brain? Noona?” He leaned down, holding a hand out to pull me up, “all I know for sure is that your last name is Sim.”

Ignoring his hand, I stood up.

“Then call me Sim.”

* * *

Jinwoo suggested that we eat outside, since the weather was pleasantly warm still. For his sake, I tried not to make my discomfort too obvious. Though, I did beg a cigarette off him once my plate was clear.

“So,” Mino started, leaning against the railing, “do you guys like this place? Do you think you’d like to stay?”

“How much is rent?”

Jinwoo swatted at me. Mino laughed.

“Don’t worry about it. My family owns the building.”

_His family seems to own a lot of things. And this place is a lot nicer than that laundromat._

“Really?” Jinwoo was wide eyed with awe. Mino nodded.

“Yes. So don’t worry about the rent. It’s covered.”

I wasn’t satisfied.

“What about utilities? Internet? Heat?”

Mino smiled and propelled himself off the railing, towards the recliner that I was using as a combination seat and table. He moved my plate onto the ground and sat in front of me.

“Everything is covered,” he gripped one of my hands, “you two are good people. Good people in rough circumstances. If I can help, why wouldn’t I?”

“Because it’s expensive,” I shrewdly pointed out. I tugged my hand out of Mino’s.

“You must be expecting something in return.”

“Brain…” Jinwoo was using his de-escalation voice.

“That’s a fair assumption,” Mino conceded, “I can’t hold it against anyone if they’re suspicious. Especially if they aren’t used to people treating them well.”

Jinwoo gave me a pleading look from behind Mino.

“Let’s just stay for a while. If you can’t adjust then we can find some other place. Please noona?”

I hated him and his big puppy eyes. I would do anything that he ever asked of me, and he damn well knew it.

“Fine,” I agreed.

Jinwoo pumped his fist in victory.

“But I want to make some conditions.”

Jinwoo slumped forward, groaning. Mino just looked at me expectantly.

“I’m going to change the key code. Jinwoo and I will be the only ones with free access.”

Mino nodded.

“Of course.”

“You can’t just invite yourself over either. You have to talk to one of us first.”

Mino laughed and nodded again.

“Alright, now I have one condition,” Mino smirked. I grit my teeth in anticipation of the deal breaker.

“I need your number. What if there’s maintenance to be done?”

“Fine,” I held my hand out to him, “but do not abuse this privilege.”

He seemed satisfied as he handed his phone over. I quickly typed my number in under the name Sim-noona.

* * *

Jinwoo was too excited to sleep in his own room that night. I would have thought that he would relish the chance to have an actual bedroom, but he curled up in bed next to me. As exhausted as we were, we were asleep in minutes.

* * *

My phone’s alarm pulled us out of sleep. Glancing at the time displayed, I panicked for a minute.

“Pinky! Pinky get up! How do we get to school from here?”

Jinwoo rolled onto his side, curling himself around my body.

“It’s okay,” he murmured, “it’s fast. Straight on the bus line. Ten minutes. Sleep.”

Ten minutes. I had over an extra hour to sleep. Maybe this place won’t be so bad.

* * *

A shoulder nudged into mine from behind as I walked from the bus stop. Looking around I was greeted by Key’s bright smile.

“That’s not your usual bus,” he nodded towards the bus stop.

“I… Uh… I moved. And how would you know what bus I usually take?”

His eyebrow jumped.

“You moved since yesterday?“

I nodded, turning back towards campus. For some reason I didn’t want Key to know I had been… forced to move? Talked into moving? I hunched my shoulders, trying to make it clear that I wasn’t in a talking mood.

Key responded by laying his arm across my shoulders as we walked.

"Is it at least a nice place?”

Thinking about his question, I shuffled my feet a bit.

“It’s too nice,” I finally mumbled.

“Really?” Key asked, clearly interested.

“You should it to show me.”

_Wouldn’t that just send Mino over the edge?_

Then I remembered the club. More specifically…

“Hmm… Only if you bring your friend from the club.”

“Oh my god,” he whined loudly, “seriously?”

“Yeah. He was…” I searched for the right word, “… interesting.”

“Yah,” he wiggled me closer to his body, “I promise I’m a better kisser.”

“You’re passable,” I retorted.

Key pouted, still holding me tightly by my shoulder. At the entrance to the science building, he finally spoke again.

“So that was really just to show your independence?”

I looked up at him curiously.

“What?”

For some reason, his closeness, pushing me against the bricks of the building, felt natural.

“You didn’t feel anything? When you kissed me?”

I gave him a scornful look.

“Nothing at all. So you should probably give up.”

“Trust me, that is not going to happen.”

Something about the look on his face urged me on.

“What are you going to do then? Try again?”

He grinned for a second, then swooped in, quickly taking my upper lip between his teeth. I barely held back a sigh.

Not satisfied with my response, he pressed closer against me. Apparently he had forgotten that we were standing in the entry of a building at school. He cupped his hand around the back of my neck, tugging me closer so his lips could taste every inch of mine. After a moment, he pulled away. He tugged my lower lip between his teeth as he did so.

“So…?”

“So what?”

He smirked, but it didn’t reach his eyes. They looked worried.

“You don’t feel anything?”

“Nothing,” I replied simply, pushing him back gently before heading into the building.


	5. Raucous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a part of this that has a fight and some implications of what might have turned into sexual assault. If that's not your style, you can scroll to the bottom for a summary.

A body landed in the seat next to me. I didn’t bother looking up to see who it was. I was sure they would let me know soon enough.

A minute passed and I still had no idea whose jeans I could see out of the corner of my eye. I finally turned my head, resting my cheek against my books.

Mino was staring straight forward. None of his supplies were out. His hands were in fists, resting against the top of his desk. His jaw was tight but his eyes looked almost relaxed.

“What?”

He turned to look at me, not answering my question. Tsking, he focused straight ahead again.

_Fine. Let him keep his problem a secret._  I closed my eyes to wait for the class to start.

* * *

All through class Mino barely acknowledged my presence. For some reason it was a little maddening. The tension between us was incredible. Even Jinwoo wasn’t able to dissipate it.

When the class ended, I put my hand on one of his notebooks. He gave me an annoyed look. I returned the expression. We waited for students to trickle out of the classroom. Finally it was just us,

“Don’t you have history to get to?”

“I’ve got nearly an hour. What’s your problem?”

Mino scoffed, crossing his arms and looking away from me. He was acting as those the answer to my question was obvious.

To be fair, I had an idea what he was mad about. But assumptions never helped anything, so I idly flipped through his textbook and waited for him to speak up.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Hmm. Nope,” I shut his book and looked at him, “my landlord is mad at me. That seems like something I should take care of right away.”

Mino nodded, then perked up. Twisting in his seat, he put a hand on mine.

“We need to discuss the visitor policy.”

“I’m guessing it’s the usual: no visitors spending the night more than once a week or something, right?”

Mino nodded, tightening his hold on my hand. His other hand slid across the back of my seat and he leaned closer.

“Plus, I don’t want any sketchy characters in my buildings.”

I leaned away from his encroachment.

“What constitutes sketchy? Because, I mean, Pinky and I aren’t exactly…”

“You two are unfortunate. I’m talking about people who might actually belong to…” Mino licked his lips as he thought it over.

“People who might belong to a more criminal category. People that have trouble respecting the possessions of others.”

“Well,” I nodded, “I don’t think that describes any of my friends, so I think we’re good. If that’s all that was bothering you…”

I stood up and started packing my stuff up. Mino watched me, chewing his lip. When I swung my bag onto my shoulder he finally stood up. Stepping around the desk, he reached out and slid the bag off my shoulder. Manoeuvring around me, he caged me between his arms and against the desk.

“You don’t follow instructions very well.”

I shrugged.

“What instructions?”

“From the club. I told you,” he reached up, running his hand through my hair. He stopped halfway through, gripping my hair and leaning into my neck.

“I told you that you should be the one to lead kisses. And that you should only kiss me.”

Sliding my hand up Mino’s chest, I tried to create some space between us. He responded by wrapping his free arm around my waist. His lips hovered over my skin, not quite making contact.

“You should raise your standards about who’s allowed to touch you.”

I swallowed, somwhat frozen by the situation. Thankfully, the paralysis didn’t reach my mouth.

“I don’t think landlords are allowed to dictate that sort of thing.”

“I’m not speaking as your landlord.”

His lips ghosted up my neck as he spoke. He was face to face with me now. He swiped his tongue over his lips while his eyes stayed on mine.

I’ve always had poor impulse control. It’s why I have a history of hitting people so often.

I closed the slight gap, pressing my lips against his for a split second. His reaction was immediate.

Slipping both of his hands to my waist, he lifted me to be sitting on the desk. Moving his hands to pull me closer against his body, he leaned in and stole a second kiss. He was good. His movements weren’t quite demanding. It seemed more like he just expected my cooperation. His fingers in my hair again facilitated that cooperation easily.

He was needy without seeming desperate. He wanted more but stayed in control of himself. When he finally pulled back, his eyes were soft, almost sad.

“Don’t let anyone else kiss you. I don’t want to ever taste another person on you.”

“I’m not your girlfriend Mino.”

“You’re not just my tenant either.”

He stepped back, lifting a hand to swipe his thumb under my lip.

“Fix your lipstick and head to class. And,” he leaned in again, quickly pecking my cheek, “keep away from the trash.”

* * *

The month had passed quickly enough. Somehow, I had let myself be convinced to stay in the apartment. I suspected that I had secretly wanted an excuse to live in such a luxurious place. I lay on the sofa, exhausted and trying not to think too much. Jinwoo was at his job tonight, so I had the entire, gigantic, apartment to myself. Bored, I pulled out my phone.

> _**To: Key  
> ** **You and your friend should come see the apartment sometime.** _

I don’t know why I was so intent on the idea. It seemed that somehow Key and I had become friends. I tried not to dissect it too much.

A few minutes passed and I got a response. It was a picture of Key with four other guys. The caption just said “which one?”

I looked the picture over. Jeez. Why do good looking guys travel in packs? I started mentally ranking them by appearance. No matter how I looked at it, the man I had seen with Key at the club topped the list. But it was close.

> _**To:  Key  
> ** **Any of them. All of them. But especially the one in the hat.** _

This time he responded with a voice memo.

> **From:  Key  
> ** **If you’re trying to make me jealous, congratulations. I already told you I’m better than hyung.**

I squinted at my phone.

> _**To:  Key  
> ** **It’s Friday night. Let’s do something.** _

* * *

I could see Key fidgeting from ten metres away. He kept glancing at his phone, putting it back in his pocket, looking up and down the street, checking his phone again. It was cute.

I snuck up as best as I could. Swinging my arm over his shoulder, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Jesus!” He clutched his chest, “I am going to regret ton… What are you wearing?! Take my jacket!”

I refused his jacket, pushing it away.

“Stop, my shoulders aren’t even out.”

“You can **not** go in there dressed like that,” he was so emphatic that I almost took the jacket.

Instead I pushed past him and went inside. He followed me, still protesting my attire.

“Yeou, you don’t know what sort of people come here. You need to either take my jacket or stay close by at all times.”

“What do you think is going to happen?”

Haphazardly, he pushed his hair back. He rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand.

“Just stay close.”

I spotted one of the faces from the selca he had sent me ahead. It was one of the softer ones, the guy looking a bit like an angel… a cherub. He slapped the shoulder of a guy next to him and nodded in our direction. The guy he hit looked up and did a double take. As soon as we were within earshot the second guy stood up.

“Key! How on earth did you manage to get a girlfriend?!”

“Shut up Minho,” Key hunched his shoulders. I quickly tugged my hand out of his grip.

“I am not his girlfriend.”

I felt suddenly a little self-conscious as five sets of eyes focused on me.

“Well not officially but…” Key started, reaching his hand for mine.

“No unofficially either,” making a face, I interrupted. “We just have some classes together.”

A few of the men laughed, Key looked annoyed.

“Well since your not his girlfriend, you should come sit next to me.”

A boy with shaggy hair was patting the seat next to him. The seat happened to be between him and the man I had seen at the club on Wednesday, so I accepted the invitation. _Smooth_.

“I’m Taemin,” the shaggy haired boy said, “that’s Jonghyun,” I finally had a name for the man I had become temporarily infatuated with, “that’s Onew,” the soft looking man nodded to me, “and Minho,” the apparent joker of the group dipped his head.

“What’s your name?” Onew asked.

“I… Um…”

“She’s Yeou,” Key quickly covered for me.

“Yeou?” Jonghyun asked, looking at me curiously.

“Really? Like the animal?”

“Or is Key just trying to warn us off you?” Minho leaned forward. Without thinking, I gave myself away.

“I’m Yeou Jang-gab.”

* * *

 

In next to no time, after a round of questions designed to verify my artistic background, I had four new numbers in my phone. I also had a few requests to tag along on my next painting. Drinks and questions were being dispensed with equal measure.

To my pleasure, Jonghyun was one if the ones that had been interested in my paintings. He even pulled up his own Instagram, showing me pictures he had taken of my walls. I was explaining about how I had gotten started with it when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Yeou, do you dance?” Taemin was smiling down at me. I hesitated.

“I… Um… I mean… There are worse things.”

Jonghyun pushed me towards the man.

“Go, you can finish talking later,” Onew piped up, “I need to steal Jonghyun for a second anyway.”

* * *

 

Based solely on the type of place we were in, I had expected dancing to be a euphemism for dry humping. Surprisingly, Taemin must have been in a dance crew or something. I didn’t dance with him as much as he repeatedly pulled me into position around the floor.

After just three songs I was sweating. My shirt had been fine, but the moisture on my skin soon rendered it partially transparent. On the fourth song I felt the inevitable body pressing against mine. Slender fingers found my hands, stretching my hands up above us. Once my hands were up entirely, the fingers trailed down my arms and over my sides. I bent my elbows, letting my hands fall to his hair.

His hair was shorter than I expected. Feeling that there couldn’t be any harm in some flirtation, I tugged at it lightly. The tone of the growl in my ear was off. I turned to look at my partner.

A total stranger looked back at me with a predatory gaze. I immediately stepped away, trying to get out of his grip.

“Sorry,” I struggled to be heard over the music, “I thought you were someone else.”

The stranger kept his arm around my waist, pulling me back against him.

“I can be someone else if that’s what you’re into.”

De-escalation mode went active. Laughing, I tried taking another step away.

“Haha… Well… I should go find him.”

The guy caught at my hand.

“Let me buy you a drink.”

“No thanks,” I waved my free hand in protest, “I should go…”

“Not even one drink? Don’t be rude.”

_Oh fuck this._

I tore my hand out of his grip and started walking in the approximate direction of the table that everyone had been at earlier. I heard him say something though. I turned back to face him. I knew that I shouldn’t. He just wanted a response, any response, at this point. I tilted my head and put on my most superior expression,

“I’m sorry, I know for a fact that I just heard you wrong.”

The guy smiled the smile of someone who got exactly the reaction they wanted. He stepped forward. Taking my wrist in his hand, he forced the both of us off the dance floor.

“I think you heard me perfectly fine. But if you’re offended, you could always try to prove me wrong.”

I tried to pull away again, but his grip was too tight. I could feel my skin pulling and stretching as I twisted my wrist.

“I’d rather not give you the satisfaction. Let me go.”

“Just one drink.”

_Jesus, did this guy specifically work out his gripping muscles?_

“No!” I opted for trying to make a scene, “let me go!”

“Why are you shouting? I’m just trying to be polite and buy you a drink.”

I was looking around wildly, but the patrons seemed involved in their own worlds. I spotted Key and Jonghyun a little ways away. I hoped my voice would carry.

“Key! Jonghyun!”

I was tugged forward, tripping over someone’s feet. I noted that we were near the exit now. Luckily, this also brought us closer to where Key was.

“Maybe we’ll skip the drink.”

I didn’t want to think about what that might imply. My wrist felt like it was going to be all bruises tomorrow.

“Jonghyun! Key! **Key!** ”

Jonghyun was the one facing towards us, so he saw us first. I saw Key’s head moving, apparently searching for where his name was coming from. Not bothering to explain, Jonghyun started towards the exit to cut off the guy and I.

Key looked lost for a minute, but then his eyes landed on me. Seeing him pout was the closest I had gotten to seeing him look upset before. Now his face skipped right past worry, or pouting. His jaw was tight and he quickly started pushing his way through the crowd.

The man stopped walking as soon as we were out the door. I tore my eyes off of Key to see why.

Jonghyun stood by the street, staring down the man. He had a big grin on his face and was waving condescendingly at him.

“Jo… Jonghyun…” The guy’s voice cracked slightly.

“I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t come here any more,” Jonghyun lilted. I felt the guy’s grip tighten even further on my wrist.

“We were just leaving,” the man said.

“With our Yeou? She doesn’t look like she wants to go.”

Even given the tensions of the moment, at him saying “our Yeou” my heart stuttered. I could have sworn he knew it too. He shot me a wink past the man.

Then Key was there. Relaxed, but still somehow threateningly, he wrapped an arm around the guy’s shoulder. His knuckles were white from how hard he was digging his fingers into the guy’s shoulder.

“You let her go, and we’ll go talk about this over there.”

“We were-”

I saw a flash of movement and felt my hand go free. The guy was doubled over and coughing. I realised that Key must have hit him.

“It wasn’t a question.”

Key gripped the back collar of the guy’s shirt and started hauling him towards a side alley. Jonghyun laughed, then walked to me.

“Come on Yeou, you don’t need to see that.”

I was rooted to the spot. The third “F” option had taken over. No fight, no flight, just frozen. Jonghyun noted my non-action and stood in front of me. Both of his hands lifted to my shoulders as he looked me over.

“Yeou? Yeou are you alright?”

He shook me slightly. It shook something loose. It was as if I could finally breathe again. I stumbled slightly as my knees unlocked. Jonghyun redirected my imbalance so I landed against his chest.

“Jonghyun… I was so scared, Jonghyun… Where’s Key? We need to get Key.”

He started guiding me back inside.

“Key will be right back. What happened?”

I explained about how I had assumed the guy was Taemin still and how he had been a jerk. When I complained about my wrist, Jonghyun lifted it gently to inspect.

* * *

 

Back inside, Taemin was back at the table with Onew and Minho. Taemin raised an eyebrow, looking pointedly at the skinship between Jonghyun and I.

“Where’d you two disappear to?”

Jonghyun reached out and smacked the boy’s head.

“Where did we go? Where did **you** go?” Jonghyun demanded, “you can’t just leave her on the dance floor. Onew.”

Onew looked up, a soft smile on his face.

“Key is outside. He had to take care of something. I’d help but Yeou…”

“Alright,” Onew nodded, “come on.”

He tapped Minho on the chest and they both stood and headed outside.

Before I knew it, I was in a seat. My head was on Jonghyun’s shoulder and he was patting my shoulder comfortingly as I tried not to cry.

Taemin had apologised repeatedly, and had eventually resorted to being my self-appointed personal bartender. Jonghyun had sent him to get some water and a separate cup of ice, pointing out that I had marks from the man’s nails in my skin.

Laughter interrupted the relative peace and intimacy of Jonghyun running ice over my wrist. I looked up to briefly see the three men were back.

“We should probably go,” Onew suggested, “before any heat gets here.”

Everyone shuffled to gather their jackets and down the last bit of their drinks. In the shuffle, Jonghyun kept me close at hand. Eventually I was able to get a good look at Key though.

“Key-oppa, your lip!”

Key’s eyes widened as I approached him. I picked up a napkin from the table, and one of the ice cubes Jonghyun had requested. He was staring at me like I had just given him a gift.

“O-oppa?”

_Fucking great. The alcohol had started talking._

“Shush.”

I wrapped the cube in the napkin and started dabbing at the spot of blood on Key’s lips. Key froze, his jacket half on. I wanted to ask what had happened, but I knew I already knew.

“You don’t have to do that,” Key mumbled. His cheeks were going slightly pink, but I chose to ignore it.

“You could help me with mine,” Minho interrupted. His cheekbone was scraped, and one of his eyebrows was split. I dipped another napkin into the glass of water.

“Oh my god. There was one guy.”

“Four guys,” Onew corrected, “his friends noticed his absence.”

I paused, my hand half way to wiping Minho’s face.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Minho confirmed, “Key’s lucky we got there when we did.”

I looked at Key, who smiled weakly. I made a split second decision.

“Alright, we’re going back to my place. It’s close, and I want to look you guys over.”

* * *

 

It took some arguing, but I convinced the boys that my place was the best option. I shot a text off to Jinwoo. We were halfway back to my place when he replied, saying it was no problem and that he’d bring back some food when he left work.

“Is your roommate cute?” Minho asked.

“I don’t know. Key, is Pinky cute?”

Key shrugged.

“Not my type, but I guess Pinky is pretty cute.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mino gets pissy because he spotted Key kissing Yeou. This leads to a kiss of their own.
> 
> Time passes, Yeou goes out with Key. They meet at a dance club, along with the rest of Key's friends. She, for whatever reason, completely reveals herself as Yeou Jang-gab.
> 
> A mishap on the dance floor leads to a man trying to force her into leaving with him. Key and Jonghyun step in to stop that from happening. Onew and Minho are drawn in as well.
> 
> After the scuffle, they all leave and head back to Yeou and Pinky's apartment. Minho seems to be under the impression that Pinky is a female.


	6. Loosen

The five men quickly spread out in the apartment. Onew looked around. He looked exactly as confused as I had been the first time I had seen the place.

“If you don’t mind the question, how do you afford this?”

I paused, trying to think of how to explain.

“The, uh, the landlord feels like he owes me.”

Onew looked like he wasn’t buying it.

“What did you do?”

“I wish I knew. But uh, I’d like to look over you three fighters.”

After pulling out Jinwoo’s entirely too well maintained first aid kit, I set up shop in the kitchen. Given the spaciousness, and the breakfast bar, I ended up being able to fit all five of the men comfortably.

Minho appointed himself as my first patient. Every pass of cotton and antiseptic served mostly to further reveal him as the flirt of the group. Unlike so many other men that I had talked to though, he seemed genuinely friendly. There was nothing predatory in his comments or gestures. I waited for an offensive comment that never came. It put me on edge.

As I patched him up, Key and Jonghyun kept up a running commentary on Minho’s cheesiness.

“Yah, you’re so easy.”

“Ai… How is that you’re the one that gets girls?”

“Stop pretending to be tough. It’s not like we’re a gang.”

I laughed at that comment, shooting a quick smile at Jonghyun.

“I should hope not. My landlord doesn’t want me bringing gangster types around here.”

“Why does your landlord think you hang out with gangsters?” Taemin blinked at me.

I made a ridiculous tough guy face before turning my attention back to Minho’s wounds. “I guess he could just see how dangerous I am.”

“No,” Onew shook his head, “that’s definitely not it.”

I poked Minho off the stool and gestured Onew over. There didn’t seem to be much to fix up on him, so I examined his hands.

“I think it was because he saw me hanging out with Key-oppa. Here.”

Somehow Onew was scratch-less. I handed him an ice pack and gestured for Key to sit. His lip was bleeding again, and I got a chance to see his knuckles.

“Oppa,” I started scolding, “what were you thinking?” Key turned slightly pink again. Had I known how much calling this short man oppa would embarrass him, I would have started ages ago.

“That guy needed to be taught about respecting women.”

“But look at you oppa,” I started dabbing at his lip, “you keep telling me how pretty you are, but then you go and get your face messed up.”

“I thought I’d try a manly look.”

* * *

Once Key was patched up to my standard, I directed everyone out to the deck. With the help of Jonghyun and Taemin, a cutting board and a baking pan served as trays to bring assorted alcohol out.

While we were setting up a makeshift bar on the deck table, Minho and Key started up the hot tub. Realising that I probably did not want to give five men a reason to strip down, I excused myself to raid Jinwoo’s closet.

I was surprised by Onew in the living room. He was looking over the shelves.

“I guess you really do paint.”

“Uh,” I cocked my head, “yeah. Why would I lie about that?”

Onew turned to face me. Smiling, he shrugged.

“I don’t know.” He clicked his teeth. “I feel like we’ve met before, but I can’t place you.”

“One of those faces, I guess.” My stomach was uneasy. Onew just shook his head.

“Not really. Ah, well I guess I should join the hot tub team.”

_Right. Hot tub._

“Do you know their sizes?”

For the first time that night, Onew seemed caught off guard. He jerked his head in confusion.

“For shorts. For swimming.”

“Ah. I think Jonghyun might know. I’ll send him.”

I nodded, “third door on the left. I’m going to start looking.”

* * *

An assortment of shorts lay on Jinwoo’s bed when Jonghyun poked his head through the door.

“Onew said you needed help?”

“Yeah,” I didn’t look up from trying to estimate, “what sizes do the guys wear?”

“Why should I know?”

I looked up.  _God damn he is really fucking handsome._

“Onew said you knew.”

Jonghyun’s confused expression loosened. He scoffed, stepping up besides me.

“Right. Those would fit me, Taemin might fit those orange ones. Minho and I are the same I guess, so…” He muttered as he picked up shorts. A pile of clothing in his hand, he looked at me.

“Onew likes you.”

_What? What does that even mean?_

“What?”

“Not like… He’s not interested in you. He approves, so far. He’s trying to set us up.” Jonghyun shrugged, pulling a pair of shorts loose from the pile in his arms. “It’s what he does.”

He kept moving, but I could only blink.

“Oh.”

_When had Jonghyun taken his shirt off?_

“So are you just going watch me change?” His hand was on the button to his pants and his smile was playful.

“Oh. Oh! Sorry! I’ll just…” I scooped up the pile of shorts and headed for the door.

“Yeou,” Jonghyun’s voice broke through my phase.

“Huh?”

The button was undone.  _Don’t stare at his body. Don’t stare at his body. Don’t stare at…_  I caught a glimpse of the waistband of his boxers and felt faint.

“I need that black pair.”

I quickly ruffled the pair out of the pile and held it out towards him. He took them and laughed.

“Onew knows what he’s doing, right?”

I’m not sure what what would have happened had I not heard Taemin’s voice sound down the hallway.

“Noona? How should we…”

* * *

Key and Minho had been impatient. As a result I was greeted by Key in soaked shorts, and Minho in soaked boxers. Normally I wouldn’t have complained, but the boxers left very little to the imagination.

Dropping the pile next to the assorted alcohol, I explained where the bathroom and extra bedroom were. Three boys picked out shorts and left.

Onew poured a little soda and a lot of soju into a cup.

“Was Jonghyun helpful?”

He was so relaxed. I got the sense that he was definitively smarter than me.

“Not really. The shorts he thought Taemin would take were picked up by Key.”

Onew nodded slowly. He picked up the last pair of shorts, flipping the waistband to check the size.

“Close enough.”

He passed by the other four as he went inside to change.

“Are you coming in?” Minho waved me over.

“Let me get a drink first.”

“Actually, can we talk for a minute?” Key intercepted me on my way to the table. I gave him a look.

“Drink first.”

He waited as I grabbed and opened a can of beer, then nudged me to the far end of the patio. When he was satisfied with the distance between us and the others. Worry lines creased his brow as he scanned my face.

“How did you get this apartment?”

I thought about how to answer that. I wasn’t a fan of lying, but I’ve got this whole sarcasm thing to keep up. Remembering something Key had said a while ago, I smirked.

“There are benefits to caving in sometimes.”

It took him a minute to bring up the requisite memory.

“Really? Mino set this up for you? And you’re fine with that?” He was gesticulating wildly by the end of his sentence, jabbing his hand back towards the apartment. “And what does caving in even mean in this context?”

“No. I didn’t want to move. But I have to take care of Jinwoo, and this is the best thing that could happen to him.”

We stared each other down for a minute.

“Mino doesn’t do things for free.” Key tilted his head back, sighing loudly.

“I’ve heard the same thing about you.”

That brought back his emphatic gestures.

“I’m not the one offering you a billion won home,” He pointed at himself, “Mino is… He’s manipulative. This,” another wild gesture towards the apartment, “isn’t going to end well.”

I crossed my arms and scowled at him.

“I don’t need this to last forever. Now that Jinwoo and I don’t have to worry about rent, we can save up for something better than what we used to have.”

Key groaned, grasping at his own hair.

“Okay, but why Mino? Why let him have this over you?”

“It’s a means to an end Key.”

Grabbing my shoulders, he seemed to barely resist shaking me.

“What end? No goal is worth this sort of trap. Don’t you get it? Mino owns you now.”

His chest was heaving slightly. I noticed a purple bruise had bloomed at the bottom of his ribs. I put my hand next to it.

“Key…”

“I know you don’t belie-”

“Key your ribs.”

“Stop deflecting. This Mino thing…”

He was still talking but I tuned him out. Removing his hands from my shoulders I turned him around. He protested, but I ignored it. I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed them as soon as I came outside. He had a spattering of marks on his body. Still ignoring his complaints, I pulled him back towards the hot tub, then back inside the apartment. Minho called after us to go in the hot tub, but I ignored him.

* * *

“Sit,” I pointed to the bar stool from earlier.

“Yeou, it’s not a big deal.”

I emphasised my pointing at the chair, and he sat down heavily. I pulled out a clean tea-towel and wrapped a bunch of ice cubes in it. Handing it to Key, I started looking him over more.

“Here, put it on that one,” I indicated the spot under his ribs in front.

Key flinched a little as he pressed the icy towel to his skin. I walked around him, looking his body over carefully.

“I need to put something more on this.”

“Yeou…”

I ignored him and dug some sage balm from the first aid kit. Container in hand, I directed Key into the living room.

“On the sofa, lay on your stomach. Here,” I handed him the slowly melting ice pack, “keep that on your ribs still.”

He did as he was told, groaning slightly at certain movements. Once he was settled, I knelt next to him.

“Yeou…”

“Mm?” I smoothed some of the cream over the dark spots on his back.

“What does Mino have on you?”

“Nothing.”

“I don’t get it then.”

“I look after Jinwoo. This is good for Jinwoo. What else is there to get? Flip.”

He rolled onto his back, groaning loudly again. I carefully felt around the edges of the big bruise. He groaned louder.

“Aish! What are you doing?!”

“Just checking to see if you broke your ribs.”

“Well don’t-”

“Hands where I can see them guys.”

Minho strolled into the living room, following his voice.

“Yah! She’s just helping me with the bruises I got because  **you**  were late.”

Minho laughed, then knelt down next to me.

“I have some bruises too you know.”

Key kicked at Minho, who burst out laughing.

“They’re covered right now though,“ Minho joked.

"That’s out of my jurisdiction then,” I retorted. I patted Key’s stomach lightly and stood up. “You’re all set.”

He sat up quickly, grunting as he did so. Reaching out he grabbed my hand.

“Yah, we still have to talk about…” He paused to look at Minho.

“We still need to talk.”

“Talk to Minho and his bruises. I’m getting in the hot tub.”

* * *

I sank into the hot tub.  _Finally._  The water felt like it was literally melting my night away. Taemin kept me supplied with fresh beer, still trying to apologise for leaving me alone on the dance floor. Jonghyun and Onew were speaking in low voices. Under cover of the bubbles I felt Jonghyun’s hand brush lightly against my knee. It was hesitant at first, but when I didn’t pull away it settled on my knee, the  fingers lightly tracing little lines into my skin.

Soon enough, Minho and Key wandered back out of the apartment. Key seemed a little clingy. He didn’t get all the way into the hot tub, opting instead to sit on the edge next to me. He kept his legs between me and Jonghyun.

Onew mumbled something I couldn’t hear over Minho making a comment about my proximity to Key and headed inside.

The guys talked and teased each other, splashing around a little bit. I focused primarily on not staring at Jonghyun. Despite their rowdiness, I was still finally relaxed. I leaned against Key’s leg. His hand started carding through my hair. Minho declared us as adorable.

“You two look good together. Are you sure you’re not dating?”

Key let out a soft “yah” but didn’t really protest. I lifted my head and gave Minho a judgemental glare.

“How am I supposed to prove I’m not dating Key?”

Minho looked victorious.

“Kiss Taemin.”

Taemin immediately slid down in his seat, under the water. Key’s “yah” was much more emphatic this time.

“I don’t think Taemin wants me to do that.”

This was when Onew decided to come back outside.

“Uh, Yeou, is Pinky called Pinky because of pink hair?”

I stood up, nodding, happy to have backup. As I crossed the hot tub I tripped over the legs of the still hiding Taemin. Minho and Jonghyun moved like lightning, catching me before I could fall. I just burst out laughing.

“Oh man… I think Taemin is too attentive as a bar tender.”

“Are you okay? I’ll help.”

With Jonghyun’s arms as railings, I climbed out of the hot tub. I took a second to wring my shirt out as much as I could before going inside.

* * *

“Pinky-pinky!”

“Brainy-brainy!” Came down the hallway.

“Mandu, chicken, and steamed veggies are on the counter.”

“Love you~!”

I hadn’t realised that Minho had followed me inside until I heard his voice behind me.

“Where’s Pinky? I want to meet her.”

“Prepare for disappointment then. And go tell the others that the food is ready.”

Minho gave me a curious look, but headed out to the patio to get the others. An assortment of wet men traipsed into the kitchen.

Plates were distributed, as was more drinks. Jinwoo finally came out of his room. He gave everyone a polite smile and bow combination, going so far as to clasp Key’s shoulders tightly.

“Hello, hi, I’m Jinwoo, the roommate.”

Minho tried to hide his disappointment behind a mouth full of mandu.

“So,” Jonghyun immediately asked, “how long have you and Yeou been living together?”

Jinwoo did a double take at his use of my artist’s name. I tried to keep a poker face on.

“Ah, well… well Yeou-noona has been taking care of me for quite a few years now.”

Onew seemed interested, “Taking care of you?”

“Yah, Pinky, you make me seem so old,” I complained. “I’m two years younger than him. I just know how to live in this world.”

I was usually alright with the incorrectly used title. Seeming older had been my life ever since I was a ten year old taking care of the twelve year old neighbour boy. Maybe I was just getting old, but I was prizing my youth a bit more these days.

“I wondered why you called me oppa earlier,” Key mused, “I thought you were older than me.”

This triggered a brief discussion of ages and speech levels. Onew seemed a little annoyed by the end of the conversation.

“Yah, Yeou, you’ve been speaking casually with me all night. I’m the eldest here.”

“I am sorry. Should I call you ajusshi now?”

Onew smirked in Key’s direction before answering.

“I think oppa is fine.”

“Yah,“ Key protested, "it took me an entire semester to earn that. Yeou, just call him Onew.”

“Onew-oppa?" I was doing it to tease Key. Jinwoo seemed a little uncomfortable with it though.

"That’s weird,” he shook his head. “Don’t do that. Let’s just speak all speak comfortably.”

“Why? I’d think you’d be in favour of me using correct ages. I’ve been noona long enough, haven’t I?”

“You’re smarter than me. Close enough.”

Jinwoo shook his head and ate more green beans. Silence settled for a minute while everyone ate. Jinwoo looked over our guests. I wondered what his impression was. I hadn’t often extended my friendship since we had moved to Seoul.

“What happened to you guys anyway? You look like you got in a fight.”

“No big deal,” Minho boasted, “there were a bunch of them but we took care of it.”

“There were four, and you were late,” Key drily reminded him.

“Four? Against you five?”

“Just us three,” Key indicated the three that had taken part.

“Why though? What’s worth fighting over?”

Jinwoo had never been a fighter. Not that he ever really had to be, but on the rare occasion that it came up, he had usually been able to talk his way out of it.  
Key looked to me, cueing me to interrupt Minho.

“A man was-”

“It’s not important Pinky.”

I felt four confused gazes fall on me, but at least Minho shut up. Jinwoo seemed oblivious.

“That bruise doesn’t look like something unimportant. Key, what happened?”

Key looked at me for guidance. I shrugged.

“Yeou needed help. We helped,” he shrugged lamely.

“Brain needed help? How did-”

“We’ll talk about it later Jinwoo.”

I hated getting sharp with him, but I didn’t want to get into it in front of the guys.  
The kitchen was awkwardly quiet for a minute. Then Minho perked up.

“Ah, Yeou!”

I looked up from my plate.

“Weren’t you going to prove that you’re not dating Key?”

“She’s not dating anyone,” Jinwoo announced, “she hasn’t dated anyone since Bu-”

“There you go,” clamping a hand over Pinky’s mouth, I smiled at Minho, “I’m not the dating type.”

Minho squinted at Jinwoo.

“Maybe he’s just covering for you.”

Onew flicked a beer can tab at Minho.

“Stop being a pervert. We all know that eventually you’ll demand a kiss as proof and that you don’t really care either way.”

“Actually,” Minho threw the tab back at Onew, “I was going to suggest Jonghyun next. Since Taemin is too shy.”

“Yaaahhh…” Key whined.

“Do I get a say in this?” I asked, concentrating on not looking at Jonghyun.

“Of course,” Minho smirked, “You can decide if you’re going to kiss Jonghyun, or if you want us to assume that you and Key are together.”

“Assume whatever you want. It doesn’t change the truth.”

Minho held out the rest of his drink to me.

“You’re too sober.”

The both of us bust into laughter. Accepting the can with one hand, I slapped his arm with the other.

* * *

Around six in the morning the guys started trickling out of the apartment. The first group to depart was Onew and Taemin. The youngest had quietly gotten black out drunk. We only noticed his condition when he started snoring.

“I should get this baby home,” Onew decided. He shook Taemin firmly. "Yah! Taemin! The cops are here!“

The boy’s head jerked up. He started patting at his still bare chest.

"What? Where’s my shirt? Shit.”

Laughter rang out as Onew apologised and helped the poor boy find his clothing.

After a while Minho got his clothes together, bringing Key and Jonghyun their clothing as well.

“I didn’t see your shorts out there,” Minho said.

“Someone’s wet pair is in the tub, I don’t know about the other,” Jinwoo mumbled. I felt a little bad. Ever since he had gotten his new job, his life had been full of late nights and early mornings. The poor creature must have been exhausted.

“Well, the wet ones are mine,” Key stood up, grimacing, “that will be comfortable.”

“Don’t we have a drier?” Jinwoo reminded me.

“Right, you want to throw them in there? I’ll help Jonghyun track down his pants.”

I suspected that Jonghyun knew where his pants were, but he had been biting his lip at me and glancing meaningfully at the hallway.

_Be cool. Be cool. Be fucking cool._

* * *

I led the way down the hall.

“Did you leave them in Jinwoo’s ro-”

I was pulled into the small spare room. The room was empty, just carpet and a ceiling light. The light stayed off as I heard the door click shut.

I was pulled against a warm and still slightly damp body. I steadied myself with my hands on a chest and shoulder. Jonghyun’s voice whispered in my ear.

“Is this okay?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

I felt his chest jump with a laugh.

“I shouldn’t do this to Key.”

“I’m-”

“Not dating Key,” he finished for me. “So I heard, but you didn’t really prove it.”

My eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness of the room. I could faintly see the outline of Jonghyun’s grin.

“We met like not even a day ago.”

“Fine,” his arms dropped to his sides. I could have easily stepped away.

“I’m going to be honest. I want you Yeou. When I saw you in that club…” Jonghyun shook his head. “I think about you.”

I had to laugh at that.  _What a line._

* * *

Jonghyun retrieved his pants from Jinwoo’s room. I went to check on the drier situation. Key was looking between the label on his shorts and the instructions on the lid of the drier. Jinwoo was nowhere to be seen.

“Need help?”

“Please.”

I quickly sorted out the proper settings and dropped his shorts into the small machine. I turned to lean against it, arms crossed, facing Key. He looked a little annoyed.

“You and Jonghyun seem to have hit it off.”

I nodded.

“He’s a bit…” I bit my lip, looking for a word that wouldn’t necessarily reveal the close calls I had had.

“Fast?” Key suggested.

I nodded. Key returned the gesture, his expression stony.

“Right. Of course,” he went quiet, chewing his lip and crossing his arms. It had gotten awkward.

“Key-op-”

He shook his head.

“I really don’t want to hear about it.”

“Fine,” I shrugged, “nothing happened though. Just words.”

He scoffed, inspecting his nails.

“They must have been good ones to make you blush that much.”

I frowned, humming in annoyance. Key looked up at the sound.

“Stop.”

I cocked my head and my brows dipped even further. I had no idea what I was supposed to stop.

“Ah,” Key dropped his arms and turned away, “how are you still cute when you’re like this? It’s unfair.”

Laughing, I hopped up to sit on top of the drier. Eventually, Key turned back to face me.

“Really? It was just words?”

“Well,” it was time for me to avoid looking at Key now. Nervous, I tucked my hair back while looking aside.

“Skinship…”

“Eh? What kind of skinship? Jeez, he moves so fast…” Key pouted.

I was going to respond, but I heard someone approaching. Jonghyun poked his head around the corner.

“Yah, hurry. Minho wants to go.”

Key stepped forward, his face now totally composed. Offering me his hand, he steadied me as I slid from the drier. It felt entirely natural when his hand slid along my arm and onto my waist. Casually holding onto me, he opened up the drier and patted his shorts.

“Mm… I don’t know… What do you think Yeou?”

I turned and bent to feel his shorts. I also felt his hand stay on me, his fingers dancing along the small strip of skin that was now exposed. His shorts were entirely dry. I stood up straight again.

“You’re the one that has to wear them,” I pointed out.

Key nodded, then turned back to Jonghyun.

“Why don’t you guys go ahead. I’ll wait for this. Besides, I’m on a different train than you anyway.”

“Are you sure?” Jonghyun stared at me, even though he was talking to Key. “I could stay a little longer,” he offered.

Key glanced between us a few times.

“It’s fine. Besides, don’t you have that interview tomor… today?”

Begrudgingly, Jonghyun nodded.

“Yeah, you’re right. Don’t keep these people awake too long Key.”

He disappeared down the hallway, back towards the kitchen. Minho poked his head in to say goodbye, and joke that this was just further proof that Key and I were an item. After they left, Jinwoo shouted that he was going to bed, not bothering to actually come and say it face to face. The apartment fell quiet, leaving Key and I with just the slight rumble of the drier.

“Skinship?”

“I thought you said you didn’t want to hear about it?”

Key rolled his eyes and sighed. "What was it? Like a hug or something?“

I blushed slightly, remembering the feeling of Jonghyun’s chest under my hand.

"It was like a hug… but he hadn’t put his shirt on yet.”

Key’s face went blank, as if he were trying to forget what I had just said. Then he approached me again. Wrapping his arms around me, he rested his head on my shoulder.

“Key.”

“Key-oppa,” he corrected me.

“Only for a few days,” I laughed. It made him loosen up a little bit. Moving back slightly he looked at me.

“I guess it doesn’t matter. You’re not my girlfriend. You’re just the girl I like, that lets me kiss her sometimes. Not at all like my girlfriend.”

“Key-oppa…”

“Did he kiss you?”

I shook my head emphatically. "I think he wanted to, but we-“

I was pushed against the drier, Key’s lips on mine. He gripped me tightly, pressing his body flush against mine. My hands ran up his chest, one dragging under his shirt. The free one eventually tangled into his hair. I tugged it slightly, pulling a groan from his throat.

"Please,” I heard him faintly mumble. I wasn’t sure what he was asking for.

He pulled away after a minute. Looking me over, he didn’t say anything. He simply reached down and started tugging his shirt up and off. Tossing it behind him he leaned in again. If his bruises were bothering him, he didn’t show any sign of it. He just kept pressing me against the drier, trying to find any way to increase the contact between us. In spite of his apparent desperation, his hands stayed polite. The furthest they went was up my back, opting to stay closer to my waist.

I pushed him away a bit. His entire body froze. I couldn’t think of what to say.

“Did I do something wrong?” Key’s eyes searched mine. I shook my head.

“No. No. I just… I shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Yes you should.”

I had to laugh at how quickly he argued against stopping.

“No… I shouldn’t be just kissing anyone. This is only going to hurt people.”

“You mean Jonghyun.”

“I mean you.”

Key bit his lip, looking me over. Then he nodded.

“You lied to me.”

“What? When did I lie to you?”

“You lied when you said you didn’t feel anything.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Really? So your heart isn’t racing right now? You don’t want to kiss me again? You’re not wishing to feel more of me?”

My heart felt weak at his words.

“What… I… I don’t…”

He lifted me onto the drier, fitting himself between my legs. He looked up at me, his fingers teasing along the hem of my shirt. He gave me an confident smile.

“Should I take this off?” He leaned up and kissed my chin. "Would you get goosebumps? If I stripped this off,“ he pressed a kiss into my neck, "would your nipples be hard?”

“Key…”

“Are you wet for me right now?”

I hated him for being right.  _It’s not like I like him. My body was just reacting to the attention being paid to it. That’s all. Just a natural physical stimuli reaction. Nothing to do with…_

“Key-oppa.”

I tugged at his hair again and he grinned. He quickly pulled my shirt up and off, following it with the sports bra I had used as a temporary bikini top. He quickly pressed his lips against my chest, leaving a mark that prohibited me from wearing anything lower than a crew-neck shirt for at least a week. His hands moved softly against my breasts, his thumbs gently running across and around my nipples. When he broke away from my skin, he looked at the mark happily.  
Turning his attention to my face, he reached up with one hand to pull my lip out from between my teeth.

“What about the other?”

“Oppa,” I grumped at him, “I don’t think that we can just-”

He leaned up to kiss me, nodding as he did so. He pulled away briefly to whisper, “okay, that’s fine,” before pulling me off of the drier. Keeping me pressed against his body he started walking down the hallway. He broke away again.

“Which one is yours?”

“That one,” I pointed, “but I don’t want to do that.”

“I know. I won’t,” he paused outside of my door. He held up his hand, extending his pinky. “I promise I will not try to do that, okay? You lead from this point, and you get to say when to stop.”

I linked my pinky with his.

“I’ll break your pinky if you break your promise.”

He laughed, nodding and opened the door to my room. In a surprising display of strength, he tossed me onto the bed.


	7. A Good Price

The first thing I noticed was that I was sweating.  _Why was I so warm?_  I tried to throw my blankets off, but there was a weight holding me down.

"Pinkyyy..." I groaned, "you're too warm."

"Wrong."

A honey blonde head lifted into view. Key grinned at me.

"We only made out, but I already blew your mind?"

I groaned again, pushing his face away from me. Key laughed as he rolled away from me. It was a natural and joyful sound.

He rolled back towards me, throwing his arms and legs over me. Wedging his face into my neck he hummed.

"Mm... You talk in your sleep you know."

"I know. Pinky used to hate it, but now he says that it helps him sleep sometimes."

Key rolled onto his back, wriggling his arm under my neck.

"I wonder why I don't mind Jinwoo, but Jonghyun makes me jealous."

"What about Mino?"

Key moved to lay on top of me. His body went slack, pinning me down.

"Key... Too heavy..."

He pushed himself up onto his elbows.

"I worry about it, but I'm not jealous. You don't seem to like him, even as a friend."

Leaning down, he pecked my lips.

"Should I be jealous of Mino?

I pretended that it was a difficult question, swaying my neck back and forth.

"Yah!" Key dropped his head to bite at my neck. Whether purposefully or not, he ground his hips against mine a little as he did so.

"You're right. I don't like Mino, not even as a friend. But..."

Key stopped. He pushed himself up so that he was kneeling between my legs. Tilting his head he stared at me, not seeming distracted at all by my still bare torso.

"But what?"

"Well..."

Key's eyes widened. He started crawling back up my body, muttering as he went.

"No, no no no no... Please tell me that... No apartment is worth that Yeou..."

"Relax. He likes me is all..." I decided to almost tell the truth. "He did try to kiss me once."

_Right. Try. Once. Not "did" and “a few times”._

Key dropped onto the mattress next to me, pulling me towards and on top of him. When I was settled on his waist he held his pinky up towards me.

"Promise me."

I stared at his hand.

"Promise what?"

"That... Well, I know you feel like you have to take care of Jinwoo but..." he wiggled his legs behind me as he thought.

"Promise me you won't let it go further than it absolutely has to with Mino."

I hooked my pinky into his.

"I wasn't planning on letting it go further than necessary anyway."

"Good. Now come here."

He pulled me down, pressing his lips against mine.

* * *

"So... Key."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay," Jinwoo turned his attention back to the television, "I mean he seems nice."

I stood up and went to my bag. Digging through it until I found my pack of cigarettes, I headed out to the patio. After lighting one, I pulled my phone out to scroll through the messages I had been ignoring for the past few hours.

> **From: Key  
> ** **Jonghyun asked if you were single.**
> 
> **From: Key  
> ** **I told him I didn’t know.**
> 
> **From: Key  
> ** **Ah…**
> 
> **From: Key  
> ** **That sounds like I’m pushing it. I’m not trying to.**
> 
> **From: Key  
> ** **Not on purpose.**
> 
> **From: Key  
> ** **I just really don’t know.**
> 
> **From: Key  
> ** **I should tell him to just ask you.**
> 
> **From: Key  
> ** **I don’t know how to handle this.**

> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **First off, I would like to apologise.**
> 
> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **I don’t usually come on that strong right away.**
> 
> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **The truth is that I was drunk and you seemed interested. I figured there wasn’t any harm in trying as long as I didn’t force anything.**
> 
> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **Plus Onew is usually right about these things.**
> 
> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **Hopefully I didn’t cross any boundaries.**
> 
> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **Second, Key and I have been friends for years.**
> 
> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **It’s actually surprising that this sort of situation has never come up between us before.**
> 
> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **Our tastes in women usually don’t converge.**
> 
> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **He seems to be of the mindset that since he has known you the longest that I should not make any attempt at intervention.**
> 
> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **I think that the matter should be left to you.**
> 
> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **Not that I expect you to make a choice right now.**
> 
> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **In fact, I hope you don’t. Key obviously has the advantage of familiarity, and I’d like a chance to prove myself.**
> 
> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **If you give me the chance to start over, sober, I want to see you again.**
> 
> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **Unless Minho is right and you two are together, in which case that’s fine and I hope this doesn’t make the situation too weird.**

 

> **From: Mino  
> ** **What are you doing tonight?**
> 
> **From: Mino  
> ** **Come out with me.**
> 
> **From: Mino  
> ** **And Jinwoo of course. You can even choose the place.**
> 
> **From: Mino  
> ** **I’ll come get you guys at 8:30.**

It was nearly five now. _I suppose they’ve all been waiting long enough._

> _**To: Key **  
> ****_ _**Not to be mean, but I still consider myself single.** _
> 
> _**To: Key **  
> ****_ _**Whatever sorts of brotherly codes of conduct you want to use towards each other is up to you two.** _

 

> _**To: Jonghyun  
> ** _ _**Well… There is this movie that I’ve been wanting to see.** _

 

> _**To: Mino  
> ** _ _**Jinwoo works tonight and I might have a date.** _
> 
> _**To: Mino  
> ** _ _**Just waiting on confirmation.** _

I leaned back on the wicker chaise lounge, secretly hoping that none of them texted me back right away.

> **From: Mino  
> ** **Cancel the date. Go out with me instead.**

> _**To: Mino  
> ** _ _**No? I really like this guy.** _

> **From: Mino  
> ** **Why? Key’s not good enough for you.**

> _**To: Mino  
> ** _ _**It isn’t Key.** _

About ten seconds after the message read notification popped up, my phone started ringing.

> “It’s none of your business Mino.”
> 
> “I’m just being a good friend. Who is it?”

I considered what would be the best way to make Mino lose interest.

> “It’s a guy that helped me out with a problem last night.”

I was met with silence. I even double checked to see if he had hung up. No. He was still on the line.

> “Mino?”
> 
> “I don’t understand what I have to do.”
> 
> “What do you mean? You don’t have to do anything.”

This time when I checked the phone he had hung up. Plus there were new messages.

 

> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **Find out when it’s playing. I’ll come get you ^_^**

 

> **From: Key **  
> ******Just promise you’ll give me a fair chance.**

 

I quickly looked up show times and messaged Jonghyun. Then:

 

> _**To: Key **  
> ****_ _**It’s not like I can control my feelings.** _

> **From: Key ** **  
> ********I know.**
> 
> **From: Key **  
> ******Last night… You must feel something. Right?**

> _**To: Key **  
> ****_ _**It’s difficult Key.** _

 

> **From: Jonghyun  
> ** **Looks good. I’ll come at… 7:00?**

> _**To: Jonghyun  
> ** _ _**Sounds good.** _

 

A little under two hours for me to get ready. I headed inside. Jinwoo was ready for me.

“I know you said you don’t want to talk about it, but I like Key. So he gets the all clear from me.”

“What if I don’t like Key?”

Jinwoo shrugged.

“Then he doesn’t need my approval." He tugged his jacket on and headed for the door. "But if you don’t like him then why let him sleep over?”

I watched him slip his shoes on.

“Maybe I do like him. I don’t know. Hey,” Jinwoo looked up from tying his laces. “I have a date tonight. Mind if we stop by?”

“Sure,” he shrugged, “I’ll be at the stall until about 5am anyway.”

* * *

 

At 6:40 there was a knock on my door. I hastily pulled my robe around my still damp frame to go open it.

“Jonghyuuu…”

Not Jonghyun. Mino. Pissy looking Mino. Mino with a raised eyebrow and sucking in his cheek.

“What are you doing here?”

“Tell me about this guy.”

He walked in as if he owned the place. Which, come to think of it, I guess he did. Kicking his shoes off, he walked directly to the bathroom. I stayed still, watching him.

“Don’t you need to do your makeup?”

Once in the bathroom I quickly finished up my mascara and gloss. Despite his demand that I tell him about my date, Mino didn’t ask any questions.

He followed me to my room, staying outside the door as I changed. This was when he spoke up.

“How did you meet this guy?”

I checked my outfit before opening the door.

“I told you. He helped me out with something.”

“I help you out with stuff.”

I rolled my eyes and checked my phone.

“He’s going to be here soon. You shouldn’t be here.”

“So talk quickly.”

“What are you, my dad? There was an incident,” I pushed past him, “him and his friends helped me out. Now we have a date.”

Mino made an annoyed noise and grabbed my hand, pulling me back and pushing me against the wall.

“I thought we settled this already. You only touch me. You only let me touch you.”

He leaned in, his signature move of running his hand through my hair. It got tangled in the slight dampness, exposing my neck to him. He leaned in and slid his lips over my skin. His voice was a low rumble.

“I know I didn’t say anything about dates, but I thought you were a smart enough girl to work that out.”

“No, Mino. **You** decided that, I never agreed to it.”

“Clearly.”

He reached a hand up and tugged my collar down.

“Who did you let mark you like this?”

I pushed him back, smacking his hands away. Readjusting my collar I ignored him. I headed into the living room, where my phone was ringing.

“Why do you do this to me?”

“Do what?”

I picked up the phone. The woman at the front desk told me I had a visitor. I told her I’d be down in a minute. Mino followed me as I moved to the entry.

“I’m doing everything I can but you just ignore me. How am I supposed to prove that we belong together?”

I scratched at my hair, trying to straighten it out.

“We don’t **belong** together. That’s not how relationships work. Now,” I bent and slipped my sneakers on, “ **I** have to go, which means **you** have to go.”

I made Mino wait for the next elevator, not wanting any confrontations downstairs. In the reflective wall of the elevator I double checked my shirt. Doing up an extra button, I made sure that the mark from Key was completely hidden.

* * *

 

Jonghyun looked almost entirely different from the last two times I had seen him. A white turtleneck and black pants accentuated the length of his legs and arms. He gave me a bright smile when he spotted me. It made my stomach flip a little.

The date went well. Jonghyun was all gentlemanly distance and smiles. I was all answers about painting and jokes. Going to the movie was almost a let down, since we had to stop talking for the duration.

Twenty minutes into the film, Jonghyun leaned over, pointing out a light stand that was visible in the frame. I clasped my hands over my mouth to muffle the shriek of a laugh that threatened to spill out. Somehow, even such a mundane thing like that seemed hilarious with Jonghyun.

Leaning into him slightly I shook, trying to hold in the laughter. I heard him chuckle at my reaction. Smoothly, he used the momentary closeness to loop his arm with mine.

When the movie ended, he offered me his hand. We left the theatre with our hands entwined. He looked over at me and bounced his eyebrows.

“I’m not going too fast, am I?”

I wiggled my hand in his. "I think this is fine.“

"You’re sure?”

I nodded.

When we were outside the theatre, Jonghyun turned to look at me.

“So… Is this the end of the date? Or do you want to do something else?”

I checked my watch.

“Well, it’s almost midnight. We could go have a drink if you like.”

Jonghyun clicked his teeth, giving me a playfully sceptical look.

“That got a little out of hand last night, didn’t it?”

“Hmm… maybe. But you can keep yourself under control in public, right?”

He nodded, taking my teasing in stride.

“Good. Let’s go bother Pinky." 

* * *

 

Pinky gave us double servings of our orders, along with an extra bottle of soju. He leaned down to whisper in my ear as he placed our orders on the table.

"Playing with fire. At least he’s cute.”

I swallowed hard, trying not to show any reaction.

Jonghyun and I challenged each other to truth or dare. Each of us had the option of answering questions or taking shots. We added the rule that if the other answered, the asker would also take a shot. Jonghyun was definitely winning.

“How many girlfriends have you had?”

“Three. One each in middle school, high school, and college.”

I emptied my glass. Jonghyun considered his question for a minute.

“Will you take me with you when you paint some time?”

I considered the question. Painting was usually just Pinky and I. It was a thing we had with each other ever since we were kids.

“I can’t guarantee it, but I can try.”

Jonghyun cocked his eyebrow at me.

“That’s not a real answer.”

“It’s as best as I can do!”

“Fine,” he filled both of our glasses, “we both drink then.”

“Or neither,” I pointed out.

“That’s no fun,” he replied, raising his glass. He held it, waiting for me to cheers him. I lifted my glass and clunked it against his. After downing the drink, he reminded me that it was my turn.

“Hmm…” I filled each of our cups as I thought.

“Are you jealous of Key?”

Jonghyun downed his glass without a second thought. It didn’t take him long to think of his next question.

“Should I be jealous of Key?”

“Well…” I started. He raised a hand to his face.

“Oh my god.”

“Relax. It’s not… I mean…” I floundered momentarily. "He’s familiar,“ I finished, lamely.

"So…” Jonghyun prompted, “should I be jealous?”

I decided to lay everything out on the table. Consequences be damned. Undoing two buttons of my shirt, I pulled the collar down and aside.

“Jesus…”

Jonghyun downed another shot. By my count, the playing field was almost even. He quickly refilled the cup.

He raised a hand, stopping a few centimetres short of touching my skin.

“Is it… When… Did you…”

“Choose a question.”

Jonghyun let his index finger fall onto the bruised skin on my chest, the faint touch sent shivers through me.

“Which of us do you like better? Me, or Key?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s not a real answer.”

“But it’s true.”

Jonghyun considered this, drawing a circle around the mark with his fingertip.

“Would you let me do this?”

“I… That’s like five questions in a row.”

My breath caught as Jonghyun’s finger slid downwards, eventually getting caught on my still fastened buttons. I raised a hand to stop him.

He picked up my glass and held it towards me. I put my fingers over the top of it.

“That doesn’t mean that I like Key better. I just… I feel like I should do things in the proper order with you.”

Putting the cup back down, Jonghyun considered this.

“Which of us drinks then?”

“Both?”

He laughed and picked up both glasses. I accepted mine and we both downed the alcohol. After setting our cups down I sighed.

“Alright…” I scratched the back of my head, thinking. Thinking of the perfect one, I snapped my fingers.

“Ah! Okay! Do you know Mino? Why does Key act like he’s the devil?”

Jonghyun immediately downed his glass. It was followed by mine as well. My eyes went wide.

“What…”

“My turn.”

“No fair! Now I’m just more curious!”

Jonghyun shook his head.

“Nope. If you don’t know then I shouldn’t tell you. My turn.”

I pouted, trying to be cute. Crossing my arms I whined.

“Fine. Your turn.”

Jonghyun smiled at my antics, then leaned in close to ask his question.

“Can I kiss you tonight?”

“If you don’t know then I shouldn’t tell you.”

Jonghyun rocked back, laughing loudly.

“I deserve that. How about we make a deal? I’ll tell you all about Mino after our first kiss.”

Half as a joke, half from curiosity, I leaned towards him. Lifting a hand to his hair, I lightly pressed my lips against his.

He looked shocked when I pulled back. I patted his face.

“So, tell me what the big deal is.”

“I… Hold on… I need to reboot.”

I laughed, waiting for him to snap out of it. He shook his head. Picking up a dumpling, he thoughtfully chewed it.

“Well, what do you know about Mino already?”

“I know that his family owns a little bar under a laundromat, and that club where I first saw you, and the apartment building, and that he sells drugs.”

Jonghyun shook his head in disbelief, wiping his fingertips on a napkin.

“Wow. Okay. So why are you asking me?”

I shrugged.

“Because he’s my landlord. Kind of. He actually pays all the rent and utilities.”

Jonghyun’s eyes widened. “What? Why?”

“He has a crush on me,” I shrugged, “and Key acts like he’s a murderer or something.”

“Well, I don’t think he’s ever killed anyone himself. But he’s definitely been responsible.”

“Oh come on.” I scoffed. “He’s, what, twenty four? Twenty five at most?”

“It’s true. Him… His family… That’s how it goes.” Jonghyun shrugged. “You don’t want to get in their way.”

I was still sceptical. No way was that little nerd some kind of crime lord. Jonghyun noted my look of doubt.

“Yeou… Just think about it for a second. That apartment he got you? How do you think he could afford something like that?”

I shrugged.

“I figured his family was rich. He said he owns the building.”

“That’s true. His family has plenty of legal-looking businesses.”

I filled both glasses again, mulling over the information. It was actually just a confirmation of what I had suspected. There was no reason for me to doubt anything Jonghyun was saying. But it still didn’t explain everything.

“Why would he give me that apartment?”

“It’s what he does. He tries to impress women with his wealth.”

I thought it over.

“Isn’t it dangerous then? For you and Key?”

Jonghyun laughed.

“I don’t think he’s ever had someone killed over a crush before.”

* * *

 

Jonghyun helped me stumble home. _Curse him and his masculine metabolism!_

As I opened the door to my apartment, he paused.

“This is the part where I’m supposed to leave, right? For the proper order?”

I giggled and nodded. Licking his lips quickly, he bowed, offering me a handshake. I laughed again and pulled him into a hug. When I broke the hug, he gave a heavy sigh.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think I sold my information too cheap,” he sulked.

Moving quickly, trying to catch him off guard, a leaned forward and took his lower lip between my teeth. He let out a shaky groan as I tugged on it.

My back hit the door frame as he chased my lips. A few moments of desperate teeth and lips passed before I pushed him back. He looked at me, expectant.

“Good enough price?”

He chuckled and nodded.

“Definitely a good price. I should go.”

“Yeah.”


	8. Re-Collection

"Seungwook! Sim Seungwook!"

The name grated on my ears like a knife scraping against a plate. I physically shuddered, making Key look at me oddly.

"What-"

"Seungwook! It is you! Holy shit, hi, hello. Wow."

If not for the stretch of tattoo peeking over his collar, the man in front of me would have been nearly unrecognisable. Key's arm noticeably tightened around my shoulders as the man approached.

"Seo Donghyun. What are you doing in Seoul? Last I heard, you were hanging around Gwangju."

"I was. Until last month," he grinned, cocking his head. I couldn't help but note the way he entirely ignored Key's presence.

"I got an offer at a local shop. The empire expands," he shrugged, "you know? What have you been up to? Still painting? Do you still talk to Kim Jinwoo?"

As he spoke, he more firmly ignored Key. It was actually kind of impressive.

At the mention of painting, Key's head jerked slightly, his arm tightening up a little more.

"I paint when I can. Jinwoo lives with me."

"Ah," Donghyun laughed, "so you two finally sealed the deal, huh? I knew Youngwoo could never compete with him."

_Amazing._ Here he was, standing and talking to me, asking if I was dating Jinwoo, name dropping my ex, all while Key was plainly trying to announce himself as the likely boyfriend candidate here. Then again, I never **could** follow his train of thought.

"Uh, no, we just live together. Best friends, all that."

"So it's alright for me to say we should hang out? Go to dinner or something? I could tell you all about how your sisters are doing."

Key's arm dropped my shoulder. He looked like he was in shock. Hands on his hips, his mouth dropping open as he stared at Donghyun.

"Oh man," I took a small sidestep, trying to signal the end of the conversation, "I usually work nights. Sorry, can't do dinner."

He seemed to accept that, nodding slightly. I was about to say goodbye when he spoke again.

"Here," he fished out his wallet and pulled a black card from it, "take this. We can do lunch instead. Give me a call some time,” he winked with that. “I know Youngwoo would love to hear from you too."

After handing the card over, he quickly bowed and waved goodbye.

"It was nice meeting you," he directed at Key over his shoulder.

"I didn't meet him," Key stated, watching him go.

"It's better that way," I replied quietly.

I turned the card over in my hands. It was simple; matte black, with just a phone number on one side and "Samuel" on the other in silver ink.

Key shook his head, still watching in the direction that Donghyun had gone in.

"I don't like him."

"You don't know him," I pointed out. Tucking the card into my wallet, I smiled at Key.

"Come on. I still need to pick up some sweet potatoes and eggs."

He did a cheesy stretch to put his arm around my shoulder once more.

"Remind me again why you wanted me to go shopping with you?"

"It's part of the deal. If we hang out, you have to be useful."

* * *

Jinwoo and I had spread all of our notebooks, textbooks, and printouts across the living room floor.

"Let's paint tonight."

I peered at him from behind a spreadsheet. He was never the one to suggest going out.

"What's up?"

"We haven't painted since we moved in. It's been almost three months."

He had a point. Ever since moving in, our lives had been hectic. Mino would invite us out, the Junggyedong boys would come visit. Plus we still had school and work to consider. I had been focusing on my commissions lately, totally ignoring the Yeou Jang-gab paintings.

I stretched out my shoulders and neck and stood up.

"Alright. You look for walls, I'll start sketching.”

* * *

We left at 7:40. It felt strange going past the security desk with backpacks full of spray paint and fire escape ladders. We were precisely the kind of people that they were supposed to keep out.

On the train I laid my head against Jinwoo's shoulder. It had been a while since we had been able to spend time together. The train rocked back and forth. The noise of the people and train was comforting. It reminded me of before meeting Mino, and the Junggyedong boys. I loved the Junggyedong boys, but I also missed when it was just me and my Pinky.

Pinky hummed some tune while he pulled his phone out.

"Who are you texting?"

"Mino. He wanted to hang out tonight."

"You told him no, right?"

"Yep."

He tucked his phone away. I slipped my arm through his.

"I miss this."

"What do you mean?" Jinwoo laughed.

"Us. You know," I readjusted my head on his shoulder, "going out and getting up to no good."

Pink hair fell into my view as Jinwoo laid his head on mine.

"I miss it too."

* * *

Pinky had chosen well. The wall was blank, and there weren't many cameras to worry about. The only one that offered any problem was easily taken care of with a little spray paint.

Jinwoo sat cross-legged, watching me paint. It was near 4 AM when I was done. I sat on the ground next to him. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to me. I accepted it, smearing it with orange and green paint in the process.

"I never understand your paintings," he admitted.

"There's nothing to get," I shrugged, "they're just... inside me. It feels good to get them out sometimes."

Standing, I extended my hand to him.

"Come on. It's too late to sleep. We should go get coffee before school."

* * *

"You seem out of it today."

I nodded slowly, focusing on sketching my map of the 1592 invasion.

"Yeouuu~."

I looked up at Key. His brow was furrowed.

"Did you go out with Jonghyun last Saturday?"

"We went to the movies," I turned my attention back to the map.

I heard a groan from Key. Then his fingers pushed my hair behind my ear.

"You know what I'm asking."

"I know," I glanced up at the projection that the teacher had left up for me.

Class had ended nearly ten minutes earlier, but I had wanted to copy the map. Jinwoo had wanted to meet up with Mino and Marshmallow, so I had been left alone. Noticing me hanging back, Key had also stayed.

"And...?"

"And what? What do you want me to say?"

He sighed, slumping over the desk.

"Optimally? I want you to say that you realised you don't like him."

"I'm not going to gossip with you about each other. There," I leaned back, stretching my back. "I'm done."

"Thank god! Let's go."

"Go where?"

* * *

The small restaurant was crowded, but when we walked in the old woman behind the counter immediately stopped what she was doing to come sweep Key into a hug.

"Kibeom-ah! Who is this? You didn't tell me about any girlfriend."

"Eomma!"

The woman laughed, sounding good natured. When she turned back to her work I leaned in towards Key.

"Is she really your mother?"

"Might as well be," he shrugged.

There was no further explanation offered. Taking me by the hand, Key pulled me back through the restaurant.

Once we passed through the back door, he pulled me in the direction of a stairway.

"Key, where are we going?"

There was no pause in his steps.

"I have to show you something."

Momentarily, we entered a small apartment. Passing through the kitchen, we entered a bedroom. After settling me to sit on the bed, Key headed directly for one of the drawers in the bureau.

He retrieved a notebook and plopped it into my lap.

"What's this?"

Key waved his hand towards it. "Take a look through it."

It was full of illustrations. Some of the early pieces looked like copies of my paintings. The further into the book I went, the more variations there were. A different style emerged. It was distinctively Key.

Instead of cross-hatching for texture, he used pointillism. Skin tones were done in blotchy swathes of split-complement palettes. The further I turned the pages, the more media was used. On one page he had done a futurist acrylic piece with pressed flowers laid into the paint.

"This is... Wow."

It was clear that this was a deeply personal item. I had never even suspected that Key was an artist. The fact that he was showing this to me was a little mind blowing.

"I tracked down every one of your paintings that I could. I've visited fifty-one of them."

He was fiddling with his brushes, avoiding eye contact as he spoke.

"The truth is I would never have noticed you if I hadn't seen you sketching in class. I thought you were just another fan for a while. I... I was immediately interested."

He handed me another notebook. Most of these were in a more realistic and traditional style. The pages were filled with pictures of me. A complete painting of me and Pinky studying on the quad. An ink drawing of me asleep in class. Pencil sketch upon pencil sketch.

"What's up with this one?"

I held the notebook up, displaying a watercolour of me with a spray can and a face mask on.

"That... That was when I realised you were Yeou Jang-gab. I," he coughed lightly, "I had dreams about you. About your paintings."

He opened the drawer again, pulling out a stack of previously crumpled papers. Looking nervous, he held them close to his chest.

"This is weird. There's no way around that. But I started taking the sketches that you threw out in class."

The creased papers were indeed sketches that I had trashed. He wasn't kidding. It was weird.

"Why are you showing me these?"

"I've seen everything you do. I might not know everything about you, but you know nothing about me. I don't want to keep secrets from you."

It was weird, being faced with my old ideas that I had gotten rid of. It was weird that he had collected them. I gave Key an impatient look.

"So, tell me."

He explained that he had been a fan of the murals for years. Two semesters ago, he had seen me sketching in a boring politics course. That was when he had first gotten interested in me. Thinking I was a fan, he had tried to figure out a way of talking to me about Yeou Jang-gab. That was when his curiosity had gotten the better of him. Any sketches that I threw out during classes I shared with him were fetched from the bin and saved. He slowly started to piece together that I was not, in fact, just a fan.

"I was already in love with you, but then I realised that you were my idol."

* * *

I reflected on everything as I sat on the train. Key's confession was a little overwhelming. The breach of privacy when he took my sketches; the fact that he had said love instead of like, or crush, or interested... At least he was properly ashamed of the prior, and willing to admit that the latter was a little fast. He apologised for both, and knew better than to beg forgiveness.

 

> _"I'm sorry Yeou," he spoke from a crouched position, lowering himself beneath me. "This is probably all too much. I shouldn't have collected those papers. I don't expect you to just accept it, because everything I've done is clearly out of line."_

I didn't doubt his shame, guilt, or apology. Everything was just... too much. He had offered to get rid of my sketches. He had offered them to me. But what difference would it make? I let him keep them.

* * *

It took a while to get back to relative normalcy. Things went well between Jonghyun and I. We were out to a local music show when he brought up Key.

"I want to ask you something."

We were sitting in the back of the audience, far enough away for conversation to not be overwhelmed by the music.

"Then ask."

"Did something happen? Between you and Key?"

I shook my head.

"No. I haven't even really talked to him for the last week or so."

Jonghyun nodded. "That's what I mean. He's... I'm not sure. He's quiet lately. I thought maybe you two had got in a fight."

"No fight... He admitted some things. It's complicated."

I turned to face the stage. I felt Jonghyun nudge me.

"He misses you. I told him to talk to you, but he said he had to wait for you to talk to him."

"Shouldn't you be happy that I'm not talking to Key?"

"Maybe," he shrugged, "but it's not right. There's you and me, and you and him. I'm fine with that," he reached down and slipped his fingers between mine. "Even if you never choose between us, that's fine."

I squeezed his hand and looked over at him.

"What if I decide I want both of you?"

"That's fine by me," he leaned in and kissed my cheek, "I'm happy right here."

I had meant it as a joke. "I don't think Key would agree."

"Maybe you should try talking to him and find out."

* * *

"You know, I don't need you to walk me home every night."

Mino sat on the check out desk as I swept up the small shop.

"No. What you don't need is this job."

"Don't start."

It was a routine argument by now. Initially, Mino had offered to just set up a bank account to cover my and Pinky's living expenses. That was clearly too much though, and Pinky had eventually convinced Mino that it wasn't necessary.

Since then, Mino had been finding excuses to come to the convenience store that I was working in. He had offered me a job at some company that his grandfather owned. First it was a data-entry job, then a secretary position had opened, then he suggested a mail room job. Small jobs that wouldn't look too closely at my resume, and that he guaranteed would pay better than the convenience store.

Small jobs where Mino would have a little too much access to my life.

"I don't see why you won't take one of the jobs. They're less demanding, and I'll be able to handle any problems that come up."

We were both now in the back alley. I looked up at Mino from where I was retying a trash bag.

"You want to make my life easier? Go make sure the bathroom is stocked."

"See? You wouldn't have to do such demeaning things at the company."

"Of course," I pushed past him and went back inside, "I'm sure there absolutely nothing demeaning that happens when you're a personal assistant. Just go check for me."

While he was gone, I sat myself behind the counter again. There was still another twenty minutes before I could officially close up.

The tiny bell above the door rang. I greeted the customer without looking up.

"Welcome."

I didn't get a response. At least not one that I heard. Not that that was surprising. It was nearly 2am after all. Flipping through some gossip mag, I heard feet shuffle through the store.

Eventually a few bags of crisps and a can of coffee were placed on the counter. I sat up and started scanning them.

"Anything else I can help you with?"

"Yeah, your number and a pack of Sense apple mint."

_This fucking guy._

I plucked the cigarettes off the back shelf and started scanning the items. Placing them in a bag, I read him his total.

"That's ₩18,730."

"Does that include the number?"

"Sir, please don't lean against the glass counter."

He stood up, a shitty grin on his face. I noticed that he looked vaguely familiar.

"You don't remember me, do you? Well, I did have to get some work done after the last time we met."

I shrugged.

"A lot of customers come through. Now, if that's all..."

"I'm still waiting for that number."

"Sir, the only number I'll give you is ₩18,730."

My hand was poised, ready to accept whatever bills this guy would eventually hand over. My other was floating over the register to punch in the amount.

I was pulled so that my body was stretched over the counter. Gripping my hand tightly in one of his, the guy used his other to make me look at him.

"It's just a number. I'm being nice. Plus your pretty boys aren't here to interfere."

For the first time in my life, I found myself wishing that Mino would turn up.

"You're really some kind of idiot. There are cameras in here you know."

The hand on my face tightened, the pressure on my jaw muscles making my mouth spring open. I raised my own hand to his wrist, trying in vain to make his grip loosen.

"All I want is a number. It's not like you're better than me."

I had a thousand retorts to that, but his hand had rendered me incapable of replying.

"You're just some girl. A worthless checkout girl."

"If she's so beneath you, why do you care so much?"

The guy glanced over his shoulder.

"This doesn't involve you buddy."

This time, Mino's laugh didn't grate on my nerves. I saw him peek past the guy at me.

"Sorry honey."

There wasn't time for me to contemplate what that meant.

There was a gurgled shout and I found myself free, though lying entirely across the counter. I quickly slid down and crouched behind the counter. I dug my phone out and dialled 112. I quickly explained the situation to the woman that answered the phone. Once she confirmed that the police would arrive soon I hung up. I lifted myself up and looked over the counter.

The fight was clearly in Mino's favour. Seeing the man laid out on his back emboldened me. Standing and rushing around the counter, I tried to grab Mino's arm.

"Mino. Mino! Mino stop!"

He tried to shrug me off.

"This bastard can't just get away with touching you like that."

"Mino, it's fine. It's over. The police are on their way. Just stop."

Mino looked up at me. He had a cut on his lip and a bruise blooming on one of his cheekbone. Reluctantly, he let go of the man's shirt collar, though he still had him pinned under his thighs. The man seemed dazed, though it was hard to tell under all the blood.

More gently than I had ever seen him, he reached up to run a thumb over my cheek. His face was soft, sad looking.

"Your face..." his eyes flashed angry again. His hand grabbed the man's shirt again.

"No! Mino stop! He's down. It's over. Come on, get off of him. Come on, just come away..."

Keeping up a stream of "it's fine" and "just relax" I slowly pulled Mino away from the man. I wrapped a bag of frozen peas in paper towels and tossed it to the guy as a makeshift ice pack. Eventually he sat up, grumbling about how Mino would get sent to jail. All that did was make me have to physically restrain Mino.

Once the police showed up, it was a blur. Giving a statement, answering questions, describing my relationship to the man and to Mino.

"That guy says he knows you. That Mr. Song just misunderstood the situation."

I shook my head hard enough to give myself a headache.

"I honestly don't remember ever meeting him before... And... Mr. Song? You mean Mino?"

The police officer didn't even look up from his notepad.

"The young man with the leather jacket. What's your relationship to him?"

"We go to school together. I guess we're friends. My roommate hangs out with him more than me."

"He seems pretty protective for such a casual acquaintance..

I squinted, not sure what the question was.

"What? You expect him to just let that guy do... whatever he was trying to do?"

Eventually the police stopped asking questions. They started looking around the shop, looking at the security footage ( _just my luck, the owner had made the camera point to the door, so it had missed the majority of the fight_ ), and calling the owner.

I sat down on the stool behind the counter. The owner was on her way, and wanted me to stay until she arrived. I slumped on the counter. The stuff that the guy had wanted to buy were still scattered there, though the coffee had fallen and shattered on the floor.

"Sim. Sim?"

I looked up Mino. Somehow he had talked his way out of having to go to the station.

"Your phone is ringing."

He was right. I had been spacing out too much to hear it.

 

> "Yeoboseyo?"
> 
> "Where are you? I thought you were coming to the stall after work?"
> 
> "Oh, yeah... Sorry Pinky. Something came up," I stretched out, groaning as I spoke into the phone.
> 
> "Alright, well, Jonghyun is here. Should I send him over there?"
> 
> "No, no. I'll call him. Thanks Pinky."

I hung up and slouched again. I had totally forgotten that Jonghyun and I were going to meet at Pinky's stall. I groaned again.

Hands landed on my shoulders. They gently worked on my muscles there, relieving some of the tension.

"Who are you calling at this hour?"

"Jonghyun."

Mino's hands stilled, but stayed on my back.

"Jonghyun? Is he friends with Key by any chance?"

I nodded, pushing myself to sit up again.

"Yeah, I should call him now."

Mino stayed behind me while I made the call.

 

> "Yeoboseyo?"
> 
> "Hey, it's me."
> 
> "Yeou! Where are you?"
> 
> "I'm still at work. There was... an altercation. I have to stick around for police and the boss," I felt Mino drape his arms around my shoulder and neck, "I don't think we can..."
> 
> "Police? Jeez, what happened?"
> 
> "There was this guy being an ass. A fight started because of it."
> 
> "A fight? Are you okay? I'm on my way over."
> 
> Mino nuzzled his head into my shoulder, opposite the side where I held my phone to my ear.
> 
> "No, you don't have to do that. I'm... Stop it Mino... I'll be fine."
> 
> There was silence over the line. I double checked that I was still connected.
> 
> "Jonghyun? You there?"
> 
> "Where are you?"
> 
> _I thought we already established that?_
> 
> "I'm at work. The convenience store across from-"
> 
> "Then why is Mino there?"
> 
> _Oh. Right. That._
> 
> "He comes to bother me sometimes. It just happened to work in my favour tonight."
> 
> "I'll be there soon."

I was going to protest, but I heard the beeping of an ended call. Looking at my phone, I sighed.

Mino spun me on the stool to face him. He pulled me into a hug, effectively hiding me inside his jacket.

"What now?"

"Jonghyun is coming here."

"Why?"

I shrugged against his arms.

"That's what boyfriends do, I guess."

Mino pulled back, gripping my upper arms and looking me over intently.

"Boyfriend?"

"Something like that."

A hand ran through his hair. He looked stressed, like he had missed the last bus or something.

"God damn it Sim. How many more hoops do I need to go through?"

"What?"

"These fucking tests. Haven't I proven that I'm the one for you?"

_Fuck. He was still on this?_

"Mino, can we please not talk about it right now? Tonight has been... rough."

"Then when are we going to talk about it?"

"How about some time when a minor emergency hasn't happened?"

"Fine," he dropped his grip on me, "but we do need to talk about this. Soon."

"Fine. Fine. Later."

I started cleaning up. Luckily, there wasn't much mess besides the coffee and glass shards. Not wanting to embed glass into the mop, I laid paper towels over the spill. Once it was soaked up enough, I swept the shards up while I got Mino to fill the mop bucket.

A commotion outside drew my attention. Then my phone started ringing.

"Yeoboseyo?"

"The police won't let me in."

I looked outside, spotting Jonghyun in the small crowd that was gathered outside. Hanging up, I rushed out to see him.

"Jonghyun! You're here!"

I hugged him tightly. I finally felt my body relax a little when his arms locked around me.

"You're shaking. Yeou, my Yeou. What happened?"

I felt tears start trickling down my face as I explained in more detail what had happened. Somewhere during my jumbled explanation, the police let Jonghyun cross the tape. I ended up sitting on one of the little counter stools as I talked. Jonghyun opted to stay standing, letting me use him as a surface to rest against.

"My Yeou is something else. Always causing fights."

I frowned up at him. "What do you mean?"

"The night we met. That guy at the bar."

I thought back to that night. A lot had happened that night, so the fight had sort of fallen from my memory.

"Oh my god... Jonghyun... Oh my god it was that guy! That was the same guy!"

I was practically in hysterics. Jonghyun shushed me, holding me against his body, softly assuring me that everything would be fine.

But it wouldn't be fine. _How could it be fine?_ That guy was clearly the type to hold a grudge. I'd have to change jobs. I'd be constantly looking over my shoulder.

I tried to calm down enough to explain my fears to Jonghyun. My panic had attracted one of the police officer's attention as well. I could sense that I was losing credibility as I spoke. Explaining who Jonghyun was ( _he's my boyfriend, I guess. It's complicated_ ), explaining why I hadn't recognised the guy before ( _I was pretty drunk last time_ ), explaining what had happened last time... At least I had Jonghyun to back me up on the last one.

There was one question that was the most uncomfortable to answer.

"Do you think this guy was targeting you specifically?"

"No,” I shook my head. “It was probably just coincidence."

I believed that too. If this guy had some sort of agenda, why wait so long? I had been working at the store for four months now. My routine was exactly that: routine. The only thing I kept hidden in any way was my painting. I'm on Facebook, I'm on twitter, I'm on Instagram. I'm not exactly difficult to track down.

The fact that it was a coincidence was actually scarier than the thought that it was on purpose. If it was something with intent behind it, I could maybe understand it. I could make sense of the motivation better. The opportunistic nature though? That made no sense to me.

Jonghyun kept his hand on my back while I talked to the officer, rubbing small circles with his thumb between my shoulder blades. Again, the questions ended and I turned to rest my head against Jonghyun's shoulder.

"Seungwook."

I tilted my head to look at Mino approaching us.

"Hmm?"

"I finished mopping up the coffee. Is there anything else you need me to do?"

He was very carefully avoiding looking at Jonghyun. It made him seem like he was staring at me.

"Umm... No. I think... I don't know. I'll have to wait for Ms. Jeup to get here."

The tension between the two men was apparent. I could feel Jonghyun's muscles tighten every time that Mino approached. Luckily, Ms. Jeup arrived fairly soon. After some flattery and slight bribery from Mino, she seemed a lot less angry about the whole situation.

* * *

Jinwoo was waiting in the living room when I got home. As soon as I opened the door he was up and bounding over to me. I was enveloped in tight skinny arms.

"Mino texted me. He explained what happened. Are you okay?"

"Tired."

Jinwoo wiggled me back and forth before letting me go.

"Alright, go to bed. Do you want me to get you anything?"

I shook my head and shuffled off.

Lying in bed, I replayed that night in my head.

The incident was over and done with. There was nothing I could do but wait for the police to contact me about whatever they might need. Part of me wanted to quit my job. I didn't like the idea of that guy, or his friends, knowing where I worked. Part of me felt like that was surrender.

Naturally, my thoughts made their way to Jonghyun and Mino, and by extension Key. There was something I could do something about. Maybe. What do I even have to do? My boyfriend-apparent was best friends with my boyfriend-runner-up. Both of them had warned me about my lovesick landlord, who seemed genuinely angry about my involvement with them. My best friend was spending more time with the weird landlord as well.

I rolled myself into a blanket kimbap and passed out.


	9. Bluffing

"Ms. Jeup, please. It was just a coincidence..."

My boss... or ex-boss, now, cut me off. I listened to her explanation.

She had a point. If that guy held a grudge and came back, who knows what might happen. He could trash the shop. She could lose a lot of money. The guy was clearly unstable.

"You could have given him a fake number. Then it wouldn't have been a problem."

Well that's just stupid. He might he crazy but he was probably smart enough to double check a number before leaving. If anything, it probably would have pissed him off more.

"Yes, Ms. Jeup."

"You can come get your last paycheck on Thursday."

I slumped, face first, onto the sofa. Pinky poked his head out of the kitchen.

"What's up?"

"Ms. Jeup just fired me."

"Seriously?" He walked over and lifted me so he could take a seat. Once settled he let me fall back into his lap.

"Yeah. I mean... I get it. But it still sucks."

Pinky scratched his fingers through my hair.

"Hmm, well, come eat some lunch and then we'll figure out your next job."

A thousand job applications. A hundred callbacks. Twenty interviews. Three offers. I looked at my notebook, considering my potential employers.

Two were for waitress positions. They were both equal as far as pay was concerned. Though one had hinted at ways of increasing wages using phrases that I was pretty sure were code for sex work. Not really my style, but maybe something to consider.

The third option offered better pay and more flexibility in hours. But it was another convenience store.

_It's not like I'd be any safer as a waitress._

I called the two waitress offers and politely declined. The one with "ample opportunity, especially for cheerful and athletic girls" made me a better offer. I made a mental note in the back of my mind.

The convenience store owner seemed glad to take me on. I only went three weeks between jobs.

Just in time for the end of the semester.

* * *

 

> **_To: Key  
>  I miss you._ **

> **From: Key  
>  Are you drunk?**

I laughed and picked up my glass. Jiya eyed me.

“If you're going to just keep the one drink, why are you taking up bar space?”

“Someone has to keep an eye on Pinky,” I replied, tapping at my phone.

> **_To: Key  
>  No. I just miss you is all._ **

> **From: Key  
>  Where are you? I'll come get you.**

“He's a grown adult. I'm sure he'd be fine without you for one night.”

I looked up at Jiya. His, _since I had by now learned he preferred the male nouns_ , cheeks were deeply defined and contoured.

“Don't you have a best friend?”

> **_To: Key  
>  Hmm... I don't think you'd be welcome here actually._ **

“Of course,” he scoffed.

“Wouldn't you do anything to protect them?”

“Sure, but I'd also let them do their own thing. Besides,” he leaned against the counter and watched Pinky talk to one of the waitresses, “we like Pinky. Nobody here would let him in trouble.”

> “Yes Key?”
> 
> “Where are you that I would not be welcome?”
> 
> “Oppa~” I whined, ignoring the look that Jiya gave me. “You don't have to worry so much.”
> 
> “I'm... god damn it. Are you alone? Is Jinwoo there?”

I rolled my eyes and motioned to Jiya for another drink. He cocked an eyebrow and whisked my cup away.

> “He's being flirted with right now.”
> 
> I heard what sounded like a sigh of relief.
> 
> “But he is there? Alright. Can you tell me where you are?”
> 
> “Oppa I told you I can't. The owner doesn't like you, and I'd rather not get kicked out.”
> 
> A raspy sound came through the phone.
> 
> “You're at one of Mino's places? Is Mino there? I guess he wouldn't let anything happen to you.”
> 
> “Oppa~” I tried to sound cute as I nodded my thanks to Jiya. I paused to take a sip of my drink.
> 
> “Yes aein?”

I coughed on my drink. Jiya gave me a confused look.

> “Ae... aein?”

Jiya's eyebrows raised.

> “Well you're not my girlfriend yet.”
> 
> “Yah, isn't that a bit... We... who's aein here?”
> 
> I heard him laugh.
> 
> “Alright, you sound like you're really not drunk then. I miss you too. Text me when you get home.”

My phone went silent. I stared at the screen for a second.

“Aein? Mino-oppa won't like that.”

“Well it's none of Mino's business.”

Jiya snorted and flicked his hair back over his shoulder.

“Your hair looks good tonight, by the way.”

“I know. It's new.”

* * *

 

"Ah... I missed eating your cooking!"

Jinwoo's eyes were shut tightly as he chewed. He made a whining noise after he swallowed.

"I've been eating at the shack too much."

Smiling, I loaded more food onto his plate.

"I'm glad you had the night off. I miss cooking for us."

"You can always invite me for dinner," Key piped up.

I nudged him with my elbow.

"Don't get so cocky."

Pinky laughed as Key rubbed his arm and pouted.

The dinner conversation was comfortable. Key had been around more often and had learned to avoid topics that would make Jinwoo and I clam up. I was play-scolding him for asking about Jonghyun when my phone started ringing.

Pinky jumped up to grab my phone from the kitchen. Coming back into the living room, he tossed it to me.

> "Yeobose-"

"Seungwook-aaahhh. Don't avoid the..." Key trailed off as I squinted at him.

> "-yo?"
> 
> "What are you doing tonight?"

Hearing Mino's voice, I made a somewhat urgent shushing gesture at Key. Making my way to the deck, I made an annoyed face at Pinky.

> "I just finished dinner."
> 
> "Come drink with me."
> 
> "Is that proper? To drink with my landlord?"
> 
> "Don't think of me as your landlord then."

I patted myself down, searching for the tell-tale lump of my cigarettes. Nothing.

> "But you are my landlord."
> 
> "I'm also your friend."

I headed inside to search my purse.

> "Barely," I snorted, "the semester ended two weeks ago and this is the first I've heard from you."
> 
> "And a man."

I rifled through my purse. _Where the hell were they?_

> "I'd rather just think of you as my landlord and classmate. Pinky?" I called into the living room. He poked his head into the kitchen.

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen my cigarettes?"

"You gave them to me," Key called. A second later he walked into the kitchen, pulling them from his jacket pocket.

> "Who's there?" Mino asked.
> 
> "Just a friend," I replied coolly. I shot a thanks in Key's direction as I took the pack and headed back to the patio.
> 
> "Is that why you don't want to come have a drink?"
> 
> "That and I've got an early appointment tomorrow."
> 
> I heard him sigh.
> 
> "When is it?"
> 
> "It's at ten."
> 
> "That's not that early."
> 
> "Early enough."

Lighting a cigarette, I felt the tension that usually came with unexpected Mino conversations start to subside.

> "Besides," I added, "I don't think Jiya likes me."
> 
> Mino laughed a little at that.
> 
> "That's true. But I was planning on taking you somewhere nicer than the cleaners. Some place," he drew a hissing breath, "respectable."

I heard the sliding door open and shut behind me, followed by the soft shuffling of feet.

> "I don't really fit in at respectable places."
> 
> "Honey.” I rolled my eyes at his imploring tone. “Come out with me tonight."

Key reached over and plucked the cigarette from my hand. After a deep inhale, he flicked the end slightly. I watched the ashes fall until they were too far away to be seen. Mino was silent, waiting for a reply. After a second I clicked my teeth.

> "I've got a friend over. We have plans tonight."

"We do?"

I shot Key a warning look, hoping Mino hadn't heard him.

> "What plans?" Mino asked, "which friend?"
> 
> "Keeping tabs on me?"

I gestured at Key to give me the cigarette back. Instead of handing it to me, he leaned in and placed it between my lips.

> "I worry about you is all. I like to keep an eye on you."

I rolled my eyes at both Key's actions and Mino's words.

> "That would be sweet if it weren't so patronising."
> 
> "Can't you just let me take care of you?"

I threw my head back, searching the clouds for patience. Peripherally I saw Key cock his head.

> "Listen, we can talk about your caregiver kink later. I have to get going."
> 
> "You make me sound like a pervert. I just-"
> 
> "Bye Mino."

I tapped the end call button. Half of me expected him to call back, but he didn't. I guessed he didn't want to seem too fixated.

Key stole the cigarette from my hand, sliding his fingertips along mine before plucking the ashy cylinder from me.

"Trouble in paradise?"

"If you call this paradise."

"A lot of people would."

I gave Key a hard look. He shrugged, holding the dwindling stub of tobacco towards me. I shook my head. He flicked it off the side of the building.

"I'm not saying that you think it's paradise. But you've got a luxury apartment that you don't pay a cent on."

I turned to lean against the railing, looking out over the city.

"So... What? I should be grateful?"

"I didn't say that."

I turned to face the apartment, staring into the kitchen.

"You didn't not say it either. Should I call Mino back? Offer to repay him somehow? Maybe I should get on my knees and offer to blow oppa's mind."

"First, no. You shouldn't. Second, he'd probably prefer being called appa. Third, you just have to take everything to an extreme, don't you?"

I gave him my best innocent smile. He rolled his eyes.

"So, what are we doing tonight?"

“Nothing, I just wanted to get off the phone.”

Key laughed, swiftly wrapping his arms around me and kissing my forehead.

* * *

 

I considered turning around when I spotted annoyingly styled black hair next to the pink. _No. I promised Pinky I'd buy him lunch today. Just go and get this over with._

"Ah, there's noona now."

Would Pinky ever run out of chill? I hope not.

I spared a quick glance at Mino, then did a double take. Now that I was up close, I could see that this person was not, in fact, Mino.

"Noona? You're still doing that?"

He actually didn't look anything like Mino. He was a bit shorter too. Really the only similarity was their hair colour, which was shared by ninety percent of the population. I just wasn't used to Pinky hanging out with anyone besides Mino.

"Kimon? What are you doing here?"

He smiled at me brightly. Jinwoo shrugged sheepishly.

"I missed you Wookie." He glanced at Pinky. "And Hyung. Plus," his smile widened, "everyone needs to get an education, right? I figured I'd come up a bit before the semester started. Get used to the city."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Ah, and it has nothing to do with Donghyun being in town?"

Kimon shrugged. "There are a few of us in town. The empire expands, you know?"

I hated that phrase. It was dumb. Sure, empires expanded. It's what empires do. But I knew they collapsed just as often.

"Seoul's a lot bigger than Gwangju. There's serious competition."

"Ah!" He waved the words away. "Hyung's got it under control. Now how about my old friends give me a tour of my new home?"

"Actually," Jinwoo spoke up, "noona and I were going to go get lunch. Come with us."

"Perfect! I'll buy!" Kimon wrapped his arms through mine and Jinwoo's. "Where to?"

* * *

 

I eyed Kimon over my food. He cheerfully chatted about everything that popped into his mind. Jinwoo listened intently, making enough conversation for the both of us.

For someone who was so talkative, Kimon was very tight-lipped whenever questions were asked about him being in Seoul. He kept answering with some vague sentences about school.

Thinking back to seeing Donghyun, I tuned out of the conversation. They were doubtless up to something. Probably the expansion of their god-forsaken "empire". But how? The plan must be big with the apparent inclusion of Donghyun. He wasn't even part of the fucking group. He was strange, but definitely no monster.

"... right? Noona?"

I jerked my attention to Jinwoo.

"What?"

"We know all the best bars in town, right? Free drinks, VIP, all of that?"

"Jinwoo," I started slowly, "I know you're not talking about that place we went with Mino..."

"Yeah! Why not? It was fun."

"You almost got alcohol poisoning, and I got..." I glanced at Kimon, "It wasn't as good as you remember. Or don't remember."

"Alright. Then how about one of the ones you go to with your boyfriends?"

I was blindly staring at Pinky as he finished his sentence. I had retreated to some other dimension where I could just walk away from the conversation.

"Boyfriend?" Kimon was staring at me. His mouth was hanging open slightly.

_I could just stand up. I could leave right now. I could go buy a plane ticket and live in Siberia for the rest of my life._

“We aren't dating.” I started.

"Two of them," Pinky interrupted, "so far."

_Siberia isn't far enough._

Kimon looked like he had just had a bucket of ice water poured over him.

"Two? How does that... What about..." Kimon leaned back, shaking his head. "Youngwoo is going to lose his mind."

Pinky pursed his lips, but didn't say anything. I had to break the silence.

“Youngwoo? He's in town?”

Kimon shrugged, “not right now, but like you said, this is a big move.”

I felt like the diner was tilting. I might slide out of the seat and out the door and down the street, hopefully to eventually be swept away by the Han river.

“Taehyun...” I considered my next words carefully. “Youngwoo doesn't need to know about me.”

Kimon's eyebrows raised, sceptical.

“He doesn't? But you two-”

“No,” I cut him off, “we're not together. What I do has nothing to do with him any more.”

Pinky was leaning back in his chair, teeth together, but lips pulled back slightly. His eyes flicked between Kimon and I.

“He's going to come to town at some point.”

“And when he comes, he can talk to me if he feels like he has to. I'm not going to have you be our messenger.”

I stared Kimon down. His eyes were clearly judgemental. Whatever. That was his problem. He didn't know, and didn't need to know, the intimate details of my past and present relationships. Finally, he looked away.

“Fine. But you better hide these boys when he gets to town.”

I scoffed and reached for my coffee.

“I'm not worried about Youngwoo.”

I hoped that nobody would try to call my bluff.


	10. Bedlam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I struggled with whether or not to change this story line after Jonghyun's passing. I've decided to follow my original notes, but I get it if this is difficult for some people. Warnings: blood, death mention, ambiguity.

“I still can’t believe you got another convenience store job.”

Mino sat in the plush wheely chair that he had dragged out of my manager’s office.

“It’s been three weeks. If you’re bored, you can leave.”

“And leave this scenery?”

I glanced over my shoulder at him.

He winked, making it obvious he was checking out my ass.

I stood up from where I had been leaning over a comic book. It was a small battle, but I won it.

Mino laughed, “seriously though, after what happened at the last place? I need to make sure you’re safe here.”

I rolled my eyes, leaning back against the back wall and lifting the comic book again.

Mino eventually pulled out his phone. Without turning my head, I glanced down at the screen. He was answering emails and scanning through long documents. Well, maybe they were long, maybe they just looked that way because the screen was so small.

We stayed in silence for a while.

A squadron of high school students came through. After helping them at the counter I headed out to the floor to restock and re-shelve.

“I’m stepping out back for a smoke,” Mino pulled his stupid leather jacket on.

I waved him away, packages of snacks in my hands. He smiled, but didn’t say anything as he left the building.

The bell above the door jingled. I called out my automatic greeting from where I knelt in one of the aisles. I didn’t hear a response, but not everyone did that so I thought nothing of it.

Satisfied with my shelves, I stood and stretched. I spotted the new customers making themselves coffees and froze.

If it had been just one thing, I might have passed it off. Lots of people were tall, lots of people had tattoos, I’m sure lots of people dressed like that...

But that height, with those tattoos, with that jacket… He made the shorter one practically inconsequential.

I slowly pulled my arms back from the stretch I had been in. There wasn’t really a reason for it, but I felt like I was trapped somehow. I had exits, and he would never do anything more than tell me how disappointed he was.

He turned and my eyes widened. Sure, I had known it was him, but this was the first time I had seen his face in years.

He smiled at me over his coffee.

“Wookie-yah.”

It took me an extra second to swallow before responding.

“Youngwoo.”

There was a moment of silence. Taehyun gave me a friendly nod. I waved in return, my movements jerky, like a model in stop motion films.

“Do you need help finding anything?” I tried to fill the quiet.

He smiled, shaking his head. He started roaming slowly through the aisles.

“You got any of the spicy ones?” Taehyun asked, holding up a pack of almonds.

I returned to my post behind the counter.

“Yeah, I think we have some in back. Hold on.”

It didn’t take me long to locate the almonds that Taehyun wanted, but I took a few extra seconds to get myself back under control. When I emerged, I felt a little better, but not much. I handed them over to Taehyun, who smiled brightly in appreciation.

I watched Taehyun go to look over our selection of kimbap, trying to not be too obvious about ignoring Youngwoo.

“Is that guy your coworker?”

He wasn’t going to let me ignore him.

I shook my head, letting out a noise to indicate the negative.

“Explains why he doesn’t wear the uniform. Boyfriend?”

I snorted a laugh at that, Taehyun glanced up from the packs in his hands to watch the exchange between us.

“More like a stalker,” I sighed, brushing my hair out of my face, “I don’t know. I guess we’re friends.”

Youngwoo hummed, eyes still skimming over our selection of jerky.

My body was in a mixed state. I could feel tension building between my shoulder blades, but my legs were relaxed. There wasn’t any of the jitteriness that comes with a threatening situation, except that my hand had found my pen and started tapping it against my leg.

I guess it was more impatience than anything. My guess was that he didn’t actually need anything in the store. He would buy some small drink, a pack or two of cigarettes, and possibly a magazine about motorcycles. All in all, it was a shopping trip that would take less than five minutes under normal circumstances.

But these weren’t normal circumstances. They hardly ever were between us.

“It’s surprisingly warm out there. You want to go for a break? I’ve seeeeeennn...”

Mino’s voice trailed off as he entered the space behind the counter.

Youngwoo looked up from where he was to shoot a cocky smirk in Mino’s direction. I groaned internally.

“Is h-“ Mino took a step towards the end of the counter.

“Leave it,” I grabbed his wrist. “They’re not your problem.”

Mino cocked his head at me, glancing down at my hand on him. He frowned.

“You kno-“

“Don’t.”

“He s-“

“Mino,” I pleaded, whispering in the hope that neither Taehyun nor Youngwoo would overhear, “just this once, fucking listen to me.”

I was aware of Youngwoo watching this interaction. I knew that Mino must have known it as well.

Mino considered my request for a second.

“Okay,” he said quietly, “no problem.” With that he resumed his seat on the manager’s chair.

A tense fifteen minutes passed before they both approached the counter.

“Can I get a..”

“... get a pack of menthol Esse,” I finished his sentence. “Those things will kill you.”

“You’re one to talk Wookie-yah.”

I smiled. I couldn’t help myself. I tried to hide it by focusing on scanning his items.

Gum, coffee, motorcycle magazine, and cigarettes. Nailed it.

“When can you take a break?”

I looked up only to be greeted by a wink. I rolled my eyes, but still smiled.

I could feel myself falling into the old pattern. He’d come in, buy his two or three things, ask when I could go on break, and then we’d just sit and smoke by the dumpsters. Different city, same routine, apparently.

“Give me a couple minutes.”

Youngwoo nodded, swiping his card. He took his items, nodded to Mino, and walked out.

Next up was Taehyun, whose purpose became clear instantly.

“Just these,” he placed his snacks on the counter. After look at Mino he addressed him.

“Hey, don’t you go to school with us?” He indicated himself and me.

“Yeah, I’m in the…”

Taehyun started an easy conversation with Mino about school, explaining that he was new to the area, asking questions. Offering me a chance to go talk with Youngwoo.

I predicted Mino’s reaction when I bent to grab my sweatshirt from under the counter, enabling me to turn in the opposite direction, away from his hand.

“Sim.”

“I’ll be right outside,” I carefully avoided meeting his gaze. “Just come get me if you need me.”

Mino huffed slightly. I heard the chair creak as he stood up.

“Who is he?”

I smiled, defaulting to Youngwoo’s pseudonym.

“Monster Woo,” I finally turned to face Mino, pulling my hair out from my sweatshirt, “we go way back. No worries.”

“I don’t like this.”

I shrugged, already making my way towards the exit.

“When do you like anything I do?”

* * *

 

“I heard you had lunch with the kid.”

“Yeah,” I kicked at the ground, “he goes to my school. What are the chances, right?”

“To be fair, he chose the school thing.”

I nodded. Taehyun was a bit of a nerd, and a bit small. It made sense for him to move in a slightly different direction than the others.

Youngwoo’s cigarette had been finished, but his breath still foggily hung in the air. Somehow, even that was familiar.

“You’re seeing someone?”

“Two people. I think,” I sighed, stubbing out my own cigarette. “It’s complicated.”

“That guy inside?”

I shook my head. Usually, I would have laughed at the thought, but with Youngwoo I knew it was more important.

“Are they good to you?”

I thought back over my time knowing Key and Jjong.

“I didn’t like one of them at first. Not that I hated him but just,” I shrugged, “you know.”

“I know.”

I glanced inside, seeing Mino glancing at us between sentences with Taehyun.

“I should head back in.”

Youngwoo looked up, taking in Mino’s obviously tense form.

“Who is he?”

I looked Mino over carefully. He looked like what he was — a CEO’s son. Expensive high quality clothes, perfect skin, well kept hair, curated accessories.

“I have no idea,” I shrugged, “my landlord, I guess. Schoolmate too. Technically I think he’s my financier or patron or something.”

“That reminds me,” Youngwoo patted down his jacket pockets, “I brought this.”

He pulled an envelope from one of the pockets. It was thick, obviously overfilled. I didn’t need to do more than look at it to know what it was.

“I don’t suppose it would do any good to say I don’t need that?”

“You know it,” Youngwoo tucked it into the front pocket of my sweatshirt.

I let him hug me before he left. It was only right.

* * *

Mino deserved more credit than I had given him. He managed to wait until I was all the way behind the counter again before unleashing his barrage of questions.

To distract him, I asked him to look through the envelope for me.

“It’s too much for me to handle right now.”

That kept him quiet for nearly an hour. A few late night wanderers came in and out of the store. Caffeine for a guy wearing an Overwatch shirt, snacks for a group of friends, a refill on T Money for a frazzled looking ajumma, a pack of cigarettes for a girl I was sure I had seen on campus.

Mino stayed quiet in the chair, shuffling the contents of the envelope between his fingers and mumbling some words in concentration. He finally stood after I helped an old man do a money transfer to his son’s account.

“Sim.”

Starting with my family name again. He was trying to be serious.

“Song.”

He grit his teeth before continuing.

“I’ve counted this six times and t-“

“Wait, let me guess first...”

Mino stared at me, annoyance and impatience writ across his face.

“Probably... it was June and it’s just coming up to October now so probably... ₩78,000,000?”

“₩79,000,000,000” Mino grimaced. “Why... that...” he shook his head, sitting back down.

“Use your words,” I goaded him. I tried my best not to show my own surprise. It was significantly more than I had expected.

He ruffled his hands through his hair and looked back up at me.

For a second, he looked weak. A split second, then it was replaced with annoyance again.

“We’ll talk after your shift.”

With that, he pushed himself out of the chair and left the store.

I didn’t see him again until the end of my shift. He must have found a comb somewhere, because his hair was back in it’s usual perfect condition. His face was relaxed, but still showed signs of being tired.

He opened the passenger side door to his car in silence, ushering me into the seat.

The drive was mostly quiet, interrupted only by Mino asking if I needed to get anything before heading to my apartment.

I made him stop so I could pick up some paints, but the drive was otherwise entirely uneventful.

* * *

Upon arrival, I filled a glass for myself with soju, and started setting up an easel.

Mino helped himself to a beer from my fridge and sat on the sofa, watching me get set up and start painting.

“Who is that guy?"

I sipped my glass of soju, eyes never leaving my canvas.

"A little more specificity Mino," it was obvious who he was referring to, but I felt like being difficult.

"That mountain. Calls himself Monster. Woo something."

"Ah," I set down my brush and started for the kitchen, "technically he's my husband."

A few blessed moments of silence filled the apartment. I started rinsing brushes.

Having regained the use of his faculties, Mino barged into the kitchen. He pulled the brush from my hands.

"What?!"

"He's my husband. For..." I thought back, "about four years now. Almost five."

"Yah!" Mino backed me into the corner of the counters. "What are you talking about? How are you married? Why him? If you're married then wh-"

I raised a hand to silence Mino. Instantly he went stopped talking.

"Why? What do you care? I got married as a teenager," I shrugged. "It's just a piece of paper."

Mino stared at me. His body was flush against mine, and he seemed a little out of breath.

"Seungwook..."

"Can you back up a little?"

He didn't budge. In fact, he raised a hand to run his fingers through my hair.

"Divorce him."

"I will, eventually. I just-"

He shook his head.

"No. Do it now. I'll have my lawyers draw up the papers."

"Why d-"

"When you come to me,” he cut me off, “I don't want any barriers. Nothing to stand in the way."

I scoffed. Mino's fingers flexed in my hair.

"You are definitely crazy."

"Hmm," he shook his head, "one of us in denial."

I opened my mouth for a smart remark, but Mino shushed me with a finger across my lips.

"And it's not me."

"You're so cocky," I mumbled past his finger. He laughed and finally backed down.

"No, not cocky. Just convinced."

* * *

"You gave me a heart attack!"

Key was leaning against the wall for support, one hand clutching his chest.

"Sorry," I sat up on his bed, "I just wanted to surprise you."

"Well," he crossed the small space, "surprise achieved. What are you doing here?"

I pouted up at him, "I missed you."

A smirk flitted across his lips as he pulled his coat off.

"Really now? You missed me?"

I nodded as he approached the bed. His knee met the mattress and he slid over to me, over me.

"That's good. I missed you too."

My arm was draped across Key's chest. Warm patterns swirled on my skin where his fingertips met my back.

"What's bothering you?"

"Mino visited today. He was being weird. So I wanted to come see you."

Key clicked his tongue and twisted his neck to look at me.

"You should come see me when you miss me."

"I did miss you," I pouted, "I told you that."

He hummed, but it didn't sound very convinced. I pushed myself up and swung my leg across his waist. Straddling him, I ran my fingertips across his chest.

"I did miss you. I was just also bothered by Mino."

I slid my hands up, leaning down to kiss his jawbone.

"I can have more than one thing going on at once."

His hum was more of a moan this time. His hands fluttered up my sides and over my back.

Taking his actions as a sign to continue, I tugged at his earlobe with my teeth. He let out a strangled whine and dug his nails into my flesh.

* * *

"Taemin? Why are you..."

"Jagiyaaaaa~!"

"That's why."

I knew that tone of voice. Swinging my legs over the edge of Key's bed I groaned.

"What did you guys ever do before I showed up?"

"Well, he was fine with hanging out with us when he was single. Now that he has options though..."

I rubbed my hand over my face.

"Put him on."

"Yeouiii! I love you. You know that right?"

"Yes, I know. What's going on? Where are you?"

"I'm drunk," Jonghyun announced as if it wasn't obvious, "can I come over?"

"I'm not at home babe."

"What? Where are you?"

I felt Key stir next to me. His arm found its way around my waist.

"I'm at Key's place. I texted you earlier about it."

"Who's that?" Key tugged at me. "Come back."

"It's Jonghyun. He's drunk."

Key pushed himself up and leaned his head against my back.

"I thought you were mine tonight."

"Jagiiiiii... I want to see you."

"Not tonight Jjong. Let Taemin take you home, okay?"

“But I’ll never be able to see you then!”

I laughed at his dramatics.

“I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

If not for the sounds of the other boys with him, and traffic in the background, I would have thought he had hung up. A solid thirty seconds passed before he spoke again, sounding more sober this time.

“I really do love you Yeou.”

I was taken back by his serious tone.

“I… I love you too Jjong. Now go get some rest, okay? We’ll talk tomorrow.”

After getting off the phone, I tucked myself back into bed with Key.

“You love him?”

“Of course,” I readjusted my head against his chest, “I love both of you.”

* * *

 

I dreamed that Jonghyun showed up at Key’s just before dawn. They argued about something, but I was paralysed on the bed. Whatever the argument was, Jonghyun made his way through Key’s small apartment and knelt next to me. After kissing my forehead he whispered.

“I’ll look after you Seungwook.”

* * *

 

“What do you want for breakfast?”

Key looked up from his notebook distractedly.

“What?”

“Breakfast? The first meal of the day?” I smiled at him, “what’re you so caught up in?”

Key shut the notebook and stretched his neck out.

“Nothing. Just drawing. What do you want to eat?”

“In a perfect world, nothing but cotton candy. But here? In reality? Where I have to live with the consequences? I gue-“

Key was already standing at his fridge by now, pulling out some eggs.

“I’m making egg sandwiches.”

I grinned, plopping down into the seat he had left vacant.

* * *

If I could have, I would have spent all day at Key’s. The small space was much more comfortable than my giant apartment. Where my place was luxurious, his was warm. The sun trickled through his bedroom windows in the morning, and filtered through his kitchen in the afternoon. He only had one bookshelf, so the top of it was littered with stacks of books punctuated by loose papers and notebooks.

I knew that he felt self conscious about the clutter, but it relaxed me.

Of course, I had things to do, so after helping clean up the breakfast dishes I only let him keep me back for a few minutes for his sweet style of goodbyes.

“Call me?” He mumbled it through my hair.

“What’s in it for me?” I teased.

“Wow, I make you breakfast, I make you orga-“

I cut him off with a kiss, thinking of the lady downstairs.

“Yes,” another peck, “I’ll call you,” a third, “I have to go.”

I started down the stairs. I was about halfway down when he called after me.

“Seungwook!”

I turned and squinted up at him. He looked angelic with the sun illuminating his blonde hair from behind.

“Hmm?”

“I love you.”

I laughed, letting my head fall out of embarrassment.

“Remember to call me!”

I nodded, a light sensation drifting me down the rest of the stairs.

* * *

 

I called Jonghyun to let him know I was on my way. Straight to voicemail. I clicked my tongue and left him a quick message. Knowing that he was probably still asleep, I stopped by a cafe to get some coffee for the both of us.

I still felt a little giddy from Key’s confession on the stairs. I was pretty sure that he had said it before, but always with qualifiers attached. Things like “I love how you’re always covered in paint”, or “I love your cooking”, occasionally even a muttered “I love you” when we were in bed together.

As I got closer to Jonghyun’s apartment, so did my thoughts. I couldn’t recall if he had ever said it to me, but I didn’t doubt that he felt it. He was more the showing type than the telling type anyway. I knew Jjong loved me by the way he pushed me forward.

I shivered, remembering his phone call last night.

> “I really do love you Yeou.”

I slipped into his building as one of his neighbours left. I smiled brightly at the helmeted figure as they held the door open for me.

After setting one cup precariously atop the other, I rang Jonghyun’s buzzer. A few minutes passed with no indication that he was coming to let me in.

I settled my chin on top of the stack of cups to hold it steady and gave a series of loud knocks, knowing how deeply the man could sleep during his hangovers.

Forty minutes later I stood aside as the superintendent rifled through his keys.

Since I had never met him before, he had agreed only to check on Jonghyun while I waited in the hall. I had agreed, nightmare visions of Jjong being injured going through my head. Had he fallen? Hit his head? Was he blacked out in the tub?

The middle aged man quickly returned, looking grim. My heart clenched.

“The good news is that he isn’t here,” he started, “but we should call the police.”

* * *

 

“You’re certain that both men were okay with your… situation?”

“They’re best friends,” I repeated for what felt like the thousandth time. “We are all open and comfortable with our arrangement.”

Stupid beige walls and stupid beige window sills and a stupid beige detective in a stupid beige jacket. I desperately wanted my paints.

* * *

“Obviously, we can’t be certain without a body, but the amount of blo-“

I wasn’t listening. Jinwoo, having been listed as my emergency contact with the school, sat next to me. He nodded his head and listened carefully to the officer.

* * *

It seemed strange that the sun was still shining when we stepped out of the station. I felt like I had been in there for twelve hours, but it turned out to be only five and a half.

We were silent on the train. We were silent on the road to the apartment. We were silent in the elevator and hall.

* * *

“What’s wrong?”

I rolled over in my bed.

Mino stood in the doorway of my bedroom. His arms were crossed, and his hip cocked with impatience.

“Why are you here?”

“Your phone is off. I was worried that you were in trouble.”

I rolled back over to stare at the wall.

“I don’t want to talk to anyone.”

“Seungwook…”

I stayed quiet.

I could hear Mino move across the room, then felt my mattress dip as he sat by my legs.

“Honey,” his hand landed on my knee, “talk to me.”

I shook my head.

I felt him lay down next to me, the familiar feeling of him being too familiar.

We laid in silence, just passing time in our own thoughts. I appreciated that he kept his hands to himself for once.

Maybe twenty minutes later, he spoke up again.

“Do you want me to look into it?”

* * *

Apparently, obviously, Mino knew “some people” who could help. Whatever that meant. Coming from anyone else it would sound like bullshit. Coming from Mino it sounded like a chance for some answers.

Of course those answers could very well be bullshit.

* * *

I didn’t want to do anything. Especially after Key also dropped off the face of the planet.

I pestered Onew, Minho, and Taemin for answers for about a week. Not that it did me much good. All I got was ignored by Minho, apologies from Taemin, and a few cryptic sentences about Key coming back “eventually” from Onew. Whatever they knew, they weren’t sharing.

I told Mino to talk to his people.

* * *

Pinky really stepped up, once again proving just how much he deserved his place as my best friend.

In the mornings he had breakfast made, or delivered, complete with too dark coffee to wake me up. During school hours, he’d jog across campus between his classes to make sure I ate the lunch he had packed for me. In the evenings he’d text me reminders of when to eat something and to leave for work in time.

I suspected that he also went behind my back to enlist help.

Why else would Taehyun just happen to be in the perfect area to walk me to work so often? And why would I never spot him along the way on the days that Mino would drive me? It was clear that Pinky had a schedule of helpers.

Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. There was some overlap. Every once in a while Taehyun would come to the shop while Mino looked through the folders he carried in a thick leather messenger bag in my boss’s office.

* * *

 

“Wookie-yaaahhh~!” He opened with his normal greeting.

“Spicy ones are back in stock,” I informed him, not moving from my slumped position on my new stool. (It was an addition that Mino had talked my boss into providing. I’m not sure why, but my boss seemed to love having Mino around.)

“Nice! But actually I have a different reason to stop by today.”

I sat up straight and swivelled back and forth slightly, waiting for Taehyun to explain himself.

He didn’t. He just crouched down in front of the cooler of iced coffees, humming slightly.

“What is it Kimon?”

“What?” He glanced over his shoulder, a blank look on his face. Then he jolted slightly, standing and leaning against the counter.  “Oh, right! Youngwoo got some mail today.”

“And…? Loads of people get mail every day.”

Taehyun looked me over, chewing his lip. I saw his eyes slide past me, into the open door to where Mino was doing his work. His eyes narrowed.

“Yes, but those people usually have mailing addresses.” He raised his voice slightly before his next statement. “And most daily mail doesn’t include a petition for divorce.”

I turned, following Taehyun’s glare to look at Mino.

Mino had lifted his eyes and was now entirely engaged in an icy staring match with one of my oldest friends.

“Mino.”

His expression loosened slightly when he turned his gaze to meet mine.

“Yes, Sim?”

I heard Taehyun scoff behind me at Mino’s politeness.

“Would you happen to have anything to do with this?”

“I told you I would have my lawyers look into it for you,” he smiled calmly.

I heard Taehyun mutter something about “his lawyers” in a mocking tone behind my back, but I ignored it.

“I didn’t ask you to do that.”

That drew a satisfied sounding chuckle from Taehyun.

The sound drew Mino’s eyes for a second. His face flashed a look of scorn before he turned his attention back to me.

“If I waited for you to give me the go-ahead before acting, you’d still be living in one of the worst parts of the city.”

I grit my teeth. He wasn’t incorrect, but he was simplifying it to an extreme extent.

“I’ll tell hyung to disregard it then,” Taehyun piped up.

I didn’t have to turn around to know that he had a victorious grin plastered across his face.

Mino finally stood up.

“Honey, d-“

“Don’t call me that.”

Mino sighed, rolling his eyes like he had been reprimanded by a child.

“Fine, Sim, didn’t you say that the only reason you hadn’t left him was because you lacked the resources?” Mino looked past me, to where I figured Taehyun was standing, “I have the resources. There’s no need to be stuck in some teenage mistake.”

My head was beginning to hurt from how tightly I was clenching my teeth. I rolled my neck, trying to work some of my annoyance loose. It didn’t work, so I stretched my shoulders as well, turning back to face Taehyun.

Taehyun rocked back and forth on his heels, looking expectant.

“I don’t have work the day after tomorrow. Let me know where I can meet him.”

Taehyun nodded, tossed some cash onto the counter, picked up a bottle of coffee, and left.

* * *

“I don’t understand what’s so special about you,” Jiya complained.

“Right?” I agreed over my drink, “right? Like…” I paused, trying think of how to express my own confusion. “Right?!”

Jiya leaned on the counter, perfectly manicured hands clasping together.

“Maybe he likes the way you hate him.”

“What?”

“Well, most people have a reason to hate him. From what I’ve put together you just hate him because you can.”

I thought over his words, chewing on the plastic sword in my cup.

“I don’t hate Mino.”

“Well you don’t love him either.”

“There’s a lot more options than just those.”

Jiya shook his head and leaned against the bar.

“Not to him. In Mino’s world the only options are hate, love, and fear.”

* * *

I was drunk.

I tried to get Key to come get me but his phone was either dead or shut off. I was not, under any circumstances, going to interrupt Jinwoo and the waitress he had left with either.

I slouched in one of the booths, trying to work out if I should try Taehyun or not.

* * *

“Come on Honey,” a hand shook me awake by my shoulders.

“You want help oppa?”

“Nah, just open the back door for me.”

I felt myself being lifted to my feet. Okay, I know how to do this. I tried opening my eyes but for some reason even the dim lights inside the bar made my temples throb.

I let myself be guided through a door, up some stairs, through a second door, and into a car.

* * *

 

I woke up in the most comfortable bed I had ever been in. The sheets were incredibly soft. I pushed myself to sitting and realised that the softness was probably at least partially due to the navy blue men’s silk pajamas I was wearing.

The only immediately bad thing in my surroundings was my phone ringing.

“Hello?”

“Miss Sim Seungwook?”

“Uh, yeah,” I checked the screen briefly, trying in vain to work out who this was. “Who’s this?”

“This is Officer Jeon. Mr. Song asked me to relay any new findings in the Kim Jonghyun case to you. I understand you’re the victim’s girlfriend?”

I vaguely recalled Mino’s explanation of his friend on the police force. But there were more pressing matters.

“What do you mean ‘victim’? Isn’t he just missing?”

“Ah, well, I suppose that’s why I’m calling. You see, the lab finished it’s initial report on the crime scene.”

“Okay…”

“I’m very sorry miss Sim, but we’ve upgraded the case to suspected homicide.”


End file.
